Child of the Machine God
by castor117
Summary: The story of a low ranking tech priest and his rise to power within the Mechanicus.
1. Chapter 1

**Prologue**

Just two weeks ago Sergeant Valerie Sternhaus had been happily stationed in the PDF barracks, many hundreds of levels above the stinking factory slums of Brux Prime.

She Hunkered down behind the hastily constructed fortifications, a few seconds longer and her head would've weighed a few autogun rounds extra. One of her squadmates wasn't so lucky and cried out in pain as he slumped to the ground, blood spurted from a fresh gaping chest wound.

As a medic rushed to his side, Val allowed the adrenaline-fueled anger to wash over her. _This is all the fracking terrorist's fault! Why couldn't they just leave well enough alone?_

The rebels were calling themselves "The Sons of Retribution" And Val was astonished at how far the situation had escalated. She remembered watching the news of some protests going on outside of city hall. Next thing she knew someone was driving a truck through the front gates.

It didn't take long before the Arbites were clubbing people unconscious.

After that, things escalated to the point where the Arbites could no longer keep the peace and the council made the decision to call in the PDF. They were all green as could be, in past week the PDF had seen more fighting than the last three generations of their ancestors combined.

Without the majority of the PDF mobilized, their forces consisted of just one battalion and the local judges. Their combined forces had blockaded the main roads and tunnels linking the manufacturing district and the residential areas the Sons had taken up arms in.

Val and her squad were assigned to one of these positions, they were currently locked in a stalemate with neither side giving ground. She turned her attention to Arbites Proctor Kane, Who was shouting through a vox amplifier.

 **"To all rebel combatants!"**

 **"Lay down your arms and surrender! I can assure that your executions will be swift and merciful!"**

 **"Failure to comply will result in punishment in accordance to the most extreme extent of** **imperial law!"**

 _Not the most convincing offer, but Kane isn't exactly the most reasonable person I've ever met either._

 _A_ s if by cue one of the rebels from poked his head out from behind cover "UP YOURS JUDGE!" And let loose a hail of shots from his autogun, they missed Procter Kane by several feet.

In retaliation, the Arbites rhino-mounted heavy bolter spun and fired. The oversized bolter shells sawed through the man's body like tissue paper and sent him flying back several yards in a spray of gore.

The collective mood of the PDF seemed to shift at the sight of the gruesome kill. There was a battle cry of "FOR THE EMPEROR!" and several troopers stood up and returned fire at the entrenched rebels positions. The sharp smell of ozone washed over Val.

Her short-range radio started buzzing and her commanding officer came online "Sargent Sternhause your new orders are to sweep and secure Hab unit 3021. Second and Third squad will assist you our intel reports the building will have minimal resistance"

She replied immediately in her most professional voice "Yes sir, squad one confirming orders"

She turned to her squad "You hear that men?! Its ass-kicking time! Get ready"

A chorus of affirmatives rang through the squad.

The Rhino began crawling forward with a mighty rumble. Six arbites double-timed to each side of the Rhino, riot shields interlocked forming a miniature testudo. In a less than coordinated maneuver, the three squads fanned out behind the arbites taking pot-shots at any rebel fighters.

Miraculously they made it halfway to the hab unit without a single casualty. Then everything went to shit.

Val heard shouting down the alley, followed by a deafening barrage of gunfire. She spun around seeing a tide of rebels flooding towards their position.  
"Reinforcements! Quick, into the building!"

Val and her squad began the mad dash to cover.

She looked back and cursed as she saw the other two squads either trying to take cover behind the Rhino or retreating back to the blockade. Her eyes widened and she mentally cursed them.

 _Damn them! Without covering fire we're completely exposed!_

The staccato bursts of gunfire echoed from the rebels' positions, two of her troopers were cut down by the hail of inacurate bullets. Their newest recruit Tomis, still a boy at the age of sixteen shot a horrified glance back at the freshly made corpses. The boy's eyes were wide open and frantic as he stumbled once, twice, before finally tripping on the uneven road and sliding to a stop.

Damn it, Val hesitated for a moment before she spun around to help him. "Come on, on your feet boy!" With help from Val, the boy scrambled to his feet, tears in his eyes "S-Sarg look"

At that moment things went from bad to worse. The building they were supposed to secure suddenly lit up with gunfire. The rebels had been waiting to ambush them this entire time.

A large man with a missile launcher appeared in the window and before Val could scream a warning a large streak of exhaust hurled itself towards the rhino, at such close a range it would have been impossible to miss.

The Arbites rhino exploded in a roaring fireball engulfing the troopers attempting to take cover behind it. The smell of burning metal mixed with charred flesh reached her nose accompanied by the screams of troopers being burnt alive.

Val watched in horror as her men were gunned down in the open streets with no cover to shield them, their flak armor doing nothing to prevent the massacre

 _How could this happen...I, I'm going to die._

Time slowed down for Val as pure adrenaline pumped through her veins, she began a desperate scramble for safety but just as she broke into a run she felt several dull impacts hit her in back, her legs gave out under her and blinding pain shot through her.

 _I can't feel my legs, Throne! why can't feel my legs?_

Movement drew her focus to a frag grenade thrown several yards away. Val stared at it numbly, willing her body to respond.

 _No...I'm not ready...not like this._

Pain racked through Val's body from the gunshot wounds, her eyes teared up as her vision started to fade. She heard screams in her vox communicator as the men...her men, died one by one.

The grenade detonated, cold and darkness washed over her.

 **Chapter 1**

 **-Cognitive functions: booting up-**

 **-Imperial date: 1 539 964 M41-**

 **-Power capacity:100%-**

 **-System Integrity: 100%-**

 **-Repair protocols: on standby-**

 **-Combat protocols: on standby-**

 **-Priority summons: received Hibernation protocols: overridden-**

Kyzen Castilian awoke from his weekly mechanical hibernation, A human uninitiated to the ways of the Mechanicus would have called this sleeping, however, it functioned as a core system reboot as much as actual rest for his biological parts.

He checked his internal timer. Exactly four hours and seventeen point three seconds had passed since he had hooked himself up to the mechanical harness. He then checked the ship's status and noticed with interest the captain had unknowingly woken him from his reboot by requesting his presence on the bridge.

He was aboard the ship Omnissiahs Prudence, a gothic class cruiser that had been decommissioned from the imperial navy over sixty years ago. The ship was now little more than a glorified cargo ship used by the Adeptus Mechanicus. They had been traversing the warp for almost three months now, a relatively short distance.

Kyzen reached into his voluminous robes pulling out a cable, he plugged the data spik into a communication socket. He scrolled through the ship's data banks for what must have been the hundredth time out of boredom. Nothing had changed except a few heat readouts in the engines

 _All within normal parameters_

At the fledgling age of twenty-eight, he was barely a child in the eyes of the Mechanicus. Newly baptized in holy engine oil laced with incense, directly pulled from a titan god-machine.

It was at that time he had received the red robes of Mars and finally advanced from novice to adept. Kyzen proudly stroked the mechanicus amulet and ran his eyes over the perfectly maintained Omnisian Power Axe, resting serenely on a rack in his quarters.

The Axe had been forged and handed down to him by his master, the venerable Magos Torqid Petrova IV, head and founder martian clan Petrovius, vassal of the honorable Archmagos Lexell Kotov.

Although emotional attachment and emotion in general, was frowned upon as weakness within the Mechanicus, Kyzen's feelings towards his master came as close to adoration as a tech-priest was capable of.

His master was known to be eccentric among other magi with his radical thinking and highly unconventional problem solving, this naturally gained many enemies within the scheming ever-changing beast that was the Mechanicus.

Magos Torqid was a truly gifted fabricator, having "discovered" many ancient Aerotech inventions just laying around his workshop. His quick rise to power and his reputation combined with seething jealousy had led many more ambitious tech-priests to spread rumors of his insanity, and some even went as far as to mention tech-heresy.

Torqid quickly put a stop to that and through a bit of brilliant political maneuvering and some questionable power plays, his rivals had been reduced to mindless servitors in less than a decade. Needless to say, he quickly became unopposed...at least openly.

Kyzen did a quick survey of himself with a small but efficient camera at the tip of his second mechadendrite to ensure that he was presentable for his meeting with the captain. Although the captain held a rank comparable to a head menial within the mechanics, it made little difference to Kyzen.

 _No matter how insignificant you are and no matter how small the task, the smallest cog can have the largest effect_ , he mentally recited one of his teachings.

Kyzen consisted of about forty percent steel, twisting cable, and whirring machinery, much less than the higher-ups. The holiest of their order, the Arch-Magi, were most often only a few shriveled bits of brain matter controlling a powerful cybernetic vassal.

Although no two tech-priests were identical and some were so vastly warped they barely resembled humanity, It was not uncommon for a tech-priest's power base to try to imitate the form of their master. The reasons for doing so could range from attempts to gain favor, to those particular augmentations being widely available. Kyzens body indeed began to look more and more like his masters every passing year. His reasons were simple, the augmentations were efficient and effective.

Truly reflecting his low rank most of his body was actually still biological. His voice box had, of course, been mechanically augmented to allow him to speak the lingua-technis, alongside several brain implants to allow him to understand it. Plasteel plating covered the majority of his face down to his lower rib cage to protect his vital areas.

He had also had his eyes surgically removed and replaced with some ocular lenses procured from one of Torqids many tech vaults. He received these augmentations his second year into his apprenticeship as a reward for his devotion. The glowing green cameras were able to see in a variety of spectrums including x-ray, infrared, and thermal. One was a three-inch telescoping tube while the other was flat circular and wide.

He had tubes pumping hyper-oxygenated gas directly into his lungs at an accelerated rate. The lower part of his face was mostly taken up by a filtration system along with a voice synthesizer and a vox amplifier. His blood had been replaced with a nutrient-rich compound that could sustain accelerated healing and hyper brain activity. There was also a small compressed oxygen tank embedded within his chest for short sustainability in null oxygen environments

Finally, he had a modest number of extra limbs. He had two sturdy servo arms with several cutting instruments, drills, and a promethium blow torch. Uses varied from lifting, cutting, and potential mauling.

Kyzen also possessed two far more valuable mechadendrites. While the servo arms were simply attached through a harness, his mechandrites where grafted directly into his nervous system.

Each featured a high precision servo claw, one had a camera attached to the end that could function as a third eye and the other had a small but deadly concealed laspistol for emergencies. Kyzen took pride in the quality of his mechadendrites.

The most telling and recognizable part of him where his legs. He had a powerful chassis grafted to his pelvic bone consisting of six nimble but sturdy spider-like legs.

One of the things he took great pride in they far surpassed the weak fleshy bipedal legs he had been born with. He remembered Master Torqid explaining his options in rapid binharic cant

 **~(Apprentice. After your successful rise in the ranks of the mechanicus, I have seen it fit to bestow upon you your first major link the machine god.)~**

He went over his options in great detail before reaching the hexapodal chassis Torqid used himself

 **~(As you know I am particularly fond of this chassis but the choice, of course, is up to you. It can and will assist in your max lifting potential by several thousand pounds.)~**

 **~(In addition, it is capable of surprisingly quick bursts of speed able to close the distance between you and a foe before they expect it.)~**

 **~(Maintain and respect them and they will carry you to the far corners of the galaxy. Allow them to fall into disrepair and they will dump you on your ass.)~**

His bionic eyes contracted with amusement. Kyzen replied with several info tags implying humor and lightheartedness that would translate into laughter for an unenlightened human.

His bare scalp was exposed for the rare occasion he was alone in his quarters. He had a wiry but tough stature above the waist that was only beginning to develop the signature "tech-priest slouch" due to the weight of the mechadendrites.

His head for shaved and his devotional tattoos were visible with the cog and skull wrapping around one side of his head, on the other side where ornate electoos from which his personal noospheric aura was emitted.

His skin was incredibly pale from lack of sunlight.

 _The sun is vastly overrated, I would take a dark cooled workshop, or even an assembly line over the sun any day._

The parts of him that actually mattered, however, were in tip-top condition His robes were freshly cleaned and his bionics were polished to shine. All six of his legs had been oiled and calibrated by maintenance servitors while he slept.

Satisfied with what the camera showed him, he flipped his hood up effectively hiding his features and opened the sliding plasteel door with a blurt of binharic cant.

 **~(Open)~**

He made towards the bridge obeying the Captains summons. His personal servo skull detached itself from its own charging station and took its usual place hovering over his left shoulder slightly trailing behind as Kyzen walked. BW367.9 was fashioned from the skull of a tech priest.

Her name had been Mia and she had been one of his closest friends among his fellow novices, she had tragically been cornered by a malfunctioning servitor and crushed to death. He had requested her skull from her master and spent the better part of a month crafting a high-quality servo skull. He had done this to honor her memory and to make something useful out of the tragedy

Kyzen was sure she would have been thankful for the opportunity to continue to serve the Omnissiah and work by her friend's side after her untimely death. As a result, Kyzen referred to the skull floating beside him simply as "Mia" instead of its official designation.

The hallway was only one of hundreds. It was located close to the back of the ship by the engines. He had requested this room as V2 plasma engines where a true marvel to behold. Kyzen spent much of his time in the engine room observing the bondsmen toil keeping the engine fueled with plasma cylinders the size of Leman Russ tanks.

He spent this time committing the intricate working of the engines into his internal data banks. True he already possessed the blueprints from the mechanicus databanks and he could have named every component and elemental composition before his optical receptors ever laid "eyes" on them.

Kyzen personally felt that first-hand experience was much more valuable than secondhand data, a sentiment you would be hard pressed to find among other adepts of the Adeptus Mechanicus.

It was quite apparent that the ship was no ordinary imperial vessel, although it carried a respectful number of statues and litanies of devotion to the God-Emperor, the number of effigies praising the Omnissiah far outweighed everything else. There were other signs as well, invisible to the naked eye.

Throughout the halls there was a golden glow of data swarming around the hallways, the ships noospheric aura, visual proof of the machine spirits existence. Using holy components embedded within every tech priests brain he could actually see lines of code as cogitators communicated with each other wirelessly.

The halls he walked down where empty and quiet save for the regular metallic clanking of his own clawed feet and the humming of Mia's antigrav drive, as he got closer to the bridge he began to see the tech thralls and bondsmen that made up the majority of the vessel's crew. As tech thralls were essentially high functioning servitors their noospheric aura was nothing like that of a tech-priests. Tech-priest's auras generally demanded attention and where a golden swirl of titles, honorifics, rank, what household and clan they belonged too, and details of their power base.

The auras of thralls were simple and dim with only an iota of power running their simple transmitter, they were made to be easily ignored.

They included a simple identification number and who their owner was, along with a few other tidbits information. Almost the exact readout he would expect from looking at a lasgun, or a civilian vehicle's engine

One such identifier flashed before his receptors.

 **-Designation: b582p7-**

 **-Property of: Captain Lazlo Locke of the 5th holy fleet of Mars**

 **-Charge: serve aboard"the Omnissiahs Prudence" until natural or unnatural death-**

 **-Understanding of linguina techniques: Basic commands only-**

 **-Cognitive ability: Nonexistent: fully lobotomized-**

Kyzen continued walking down the corridor passing several hundred doors and bulkheads. He could have recited from memory what was behind those doors ranging to massive storage holds to cramped conscript and rating quarters.

Although the Omnissiahs Prudence was a relatively small and unimportant ship it was still well maintained and cared for. The corridors had the smell of freshly burned incense and at the end of a long hallway he could hear one of his fellow tech-priests, a low ranking transmechanic, chanting devotional hymns thanking the ships machine spirit.

Having spent the last few months aboard the cruiser, Kyzen had spent long amounts of time just listening and feeling the nature of the machine spirit encased within the ship. Kyzen had begun to develop feelings of affection towards the old ship as though it were an old friend.

It was immensely stubborn and headstrong. When the cruiser had had its guns stripped from her by the uncaring Imperial Navy it had angered and saddened the majestic machine spirit. Accessing the ship log's Kyzen had discovered the cruiser had begun to forgo some serious malfunctions and had come very close to a reactor malfunction which would have resulted in a catastrophic detonation.

In the face of such malfunctions, the Imperial Navy had almost scrapped the majestic ship for parts when clan Petronius had offered to buy it off them. They had, of course, accepted the generous offer. Kyzen could tell the ship still wanted to fight, but over time, and with the soothings and offerings of the tech-priests, the ship had begun to accept its new role and was eager to prove itself once again.

Kyzen added his binharic cant to the tech-priests down the hall, thanking the ship for shielding them from the warp within her mighty frame.

As the last verse faded away he could feel some of the tension fading away from the ship as though the terrible burden of traveling through the warp became a little more bearable. Overall though the ship's Machine Spirit spirit felt content and appeased. This was standard among Mechanicus ships, _Especially among the ships lucky enough to count themselves under the care of clan Petrovius._

After about twenty minutes of his steady purposeful stride, he arrived at the heavy blast doors protecting the bridge There were two Skitarii guarding the doors, they looked magnificent, even if their bright red Martian robes had a few holes worn through them, and the metal armor on their chest guards gleamed dully from what looked like decades of minimum maintenance.

Kyzen instantly perked up at seeing them.

 _Even if the captain just has another menial repair job for me it would be worth it to see a Skitarii up close!_

It did slightly confuse him as to why the Skitarii seemed in less than optimal condition.

A quick scan left him disappointed. They had only the minimal required augmentations. They had been amputated below the knee and given bionic legs, as per Skitarii tradition. In addition, they had metal exoskeletons permanently grafted into their skin.

But the augmentations where cheap commercial things that could have been purchased at any hive. They didn't have far superior mechanicus variants that they were entitled to. The exoskeletons were made of cheap gunmetal instead of a reinforced plasteel titanium alloy.

Their noospheric data aura was more complex than a servitor or tech thralls, as was befitting for the warriors of the Omnissiah.

- **designation: b5 Ranger Ry-nal-**

 **-In service to: Captain Lazlo Locke of the 3rd holy fleet of Mars -**

 **-Clan affiliation: none-**

 **-Squad designation: 5th garrison squad of "The Omnissiahs Prudence"-**

 **-Charge: Defend "the Omnissiahs Prudence" repel attackers and heretics-**

 **-Secondary Charge: Act as a bodyguard for Captain Locke-**

 **-Understanding of linguina techniques: Moderate-**

 **-Cognitive ability: Limited, severe brain conditioning and partial lobotomy-**

The lack of repair and quality augmentations suddenly made sense to Kyzen, these were not the glorious warriors he had viewed on holos back on Mars, but simple outdated bodyguards the captain must have purchased at a discount from some martian clan.

He received the last part of the data with distaste - **Cognitive ability: Limited** \- This alone told him that these Skitarii had been manufactured by a different clan. Magos Toqid had always been a great believer in allowing his warriors to retain their minds and cognitive abilities.

 _True loyalty must be a choice, not a command. Besides how can these Skitarii truly worship and serve the Omnissiah without having the capacity to fully understand his magnificence?_

The sentiment was split almost 50/50 among the mechanicus, with many Magi preferring to turn their warriors into mindless drones for total and complete control over their minions. And others, such as Kaizens master preferred to give their warriors free will and a capacity for independent thought.

The holotapes spoke for themselves showing the Skitarii fighting intelligently and with coordination long after their techpriests and commanders had fallen, it also showed the Skitarii being far more adaptable to changing battlefield conditions in stark contrast to their servitor-like kin.

This, more often than not, resulted in a victory even after a battle appeared to be lost. Of course, it had its drawbacks as these Skitarii where known for being headstrong and willful, sometimes even outright disobedient, their Alphas had especially earned this reputation.

Of course, high functioning Skitarii were harder to come by. Kyzen was sure these would be more than enough to repel any insane pirates that dared attack a mechanicus ship this far into imperial space.

The chances of that are so astronomically low though that these guards are most likely used to intimidate simple hive merchants instead of any true combat usage. The guards pulled him out off his analysis with a raised mechanical hand and an equally mechanical voice

"HALT...identify yourself and purpose or be escorted to the brig"

 **~(Adept Kyzen Castilian of the Adeptus Mechanicus, identification number, M76-3921, complying with Captain Locke's summons at 0400 hours)~**

There was a short period of silence as the Skitarii ran his name through a database, the two-ton plasteel blast doors slid open to allow him entrance.

Kyzen had never actually been to the bridge this entire journey, receiving most of his communication with the Captain via the ship interface. It made the summons all the more unusual and he couldn't help but wonder if there was some sort of crisis.

The bridge windows had metal armored panels slid over them to spare the crew the terrible sight of the warp. The crew was relatively small. With only a few servitors and ensigns going about their tasks, a single commissar stalked behind them like a wolf among sheep.

The Navigator was sitting upon an iron throne, cables protruded from his skull connecting him to the ship. His eyes were sightless and his body motionless as he peered out through the warp.

Mia floated off to record the bridge in case Kyzen wished to revisit this experience. Her red mechanical recorder embedded in the right eyes socket taking in everything in a 180-degree radius

And then there was Captain Lazlo Locke himself. He wore a crisp imperial navy uniform, nothing too gaudy. His hair steel grey was a few inches longer than regulation. He also had a few minor augmentations Kyzen noticed approvingly. _Most likely a reward for his continued service to the Mechanicus.  
_

He turned as he noticed Kyzen "Ah Master Tech-Priest, it's an honor to finally meet you face to face." He stuck out his right hand. Kyzen stared at the hand for a few seconds unsure entirely what the Captain was trying to initiate. Captain Locke awkwardly dropped his hand.

Kyzens mechanical voice warbled at the beginning of his sentence on account of not being used for the last several months "likewise Captain...I apologize, I am rather uninitiated in the customs of the Imperial Navy. May I inquire about the nature of your summons?"

Captain Locke shook his head and smiled, obviously amused. Kyzen was unsure however what amused him due to his lack of data tags.

 _Omnissiah preserve me, non-binary communication is infuriating!_

Getting over his mysterious amusement he answered "Ah yes... our navigator has scryed that we will arrive at our destination sometime today. I thought that you might appreciate the opportunity to see the planet from orbit and witness the end of our journey, it truly is a breathta-"

Locke was cut off by a warbling alarm coming from a console near the command chair. The Captain glanced at it. "My apologies Master Tech-Priest, we have arrived sooner than I expected. Excuse me, I must attend to my ship" Kyzen bowed his head in understanding.

Captain Locke thumbed the intercom system. "Attention all crew, we will be entering realspace in ten minutes...rejoice for the Emperor and the Omnissiah has guided us safely through the warp once again, brace yourselves for transition"

Two minutes later and the blaring of klaxons echoed through the ship, Five minutes later and the ship began shaking wildly.

Kyzens internal chronometer and galactic compass went absolutely haywire for a few seconds. An intensely uncomfortable feeling of nausea and dizziness engulfed him. One of the newer looking ensigns fell to his knees and began puking up his ration bars.

The now-irritated commissar dragged him from the deck by the scruff of his neck for no-doubt harsh discipline. Three minutes after that Kyzen felt the shift from warp space to real space wash over him, it hit him like a breath of fresh air.

The blast shields on the windows slowly slid open as if the ship was trying to keep them in suspense. Everyone present of the bridge leaned forward in anticipation and squinted and Kyzens receptors dilated. The blinding light of the sun overwhelmed the bridge. Although they were several thousand miles from the planet, he could still view the highly zoomed version of the planet on the display screens.

And there it was, his first assignment as an adept, three hundred thousand light-years from his birth planet of Mars was the hive world Artemia Majoris. His new home.

* * *

 _ **You may say, it is impossible for a man to become like the Machine. And I would reply, that only the smallest mind strives to comprehend its limits.**_  
-Fabricator General Kane-


	2. Chapter 2

The second they had entered realspace. The fly space around Artemia Majoris erupted into chaos, civilian craft scattered away from the cruiser and prepped their warp-drives, all combat ships trained their guns on the new target.

What followed was a tense exchange of shouting and insults over the vox channel, luckily it never escalated past that, partially owing to some excellent diplomacy and wordplay on behalf of Captain Locke. Kyzens view of him rose several more notches.

It took about ten minutes of chaos before the fleet Admiral realized their ship was a scheduled imperial transport. When the matter was resolved their two frigates were dispatched to escort the Omnissiahs Prudence to the port. Apparently, the PDF not been informed that an envoy from Mars had been sent. _Typical_ non _-Mechanicus miscommunication and inefficiency._

This was exactly why he had been sent to this world. Artemia Majoris was a forge world that was just starting to develop this last century.

According to local history, the planet had been founded during the great crusade as an agri-world. As the centuries went by the population had increased at a normal rate and a hive city slowly formed on the main content. The hive was named Brux Prime.

Everything had changed however once miners found enormous mineral deposits and petroleum reservoirs deep underneath the planet's crust. The more ambitious among the locals saw the opportunity to make a fortune and they took it.

Mining cartels began appearing everywhere, and the population began to skyrocket as wealth flowed from the planet's resources. The cartels had gotten together as a significant political power in the year 4 160 826 M41.

A rather significant number of the civilian population had been outraged at the radical changes befalling their planet. They blamed the ruling nobility for widespread inhumane working conditions and the exploitation of human lives

The planetary governor had chosen to humor the protests and demonstrations, as an act of mercy or goodwill it was still unclear.

 _That was their mistake, Mechanicum suppression protocols dictate the immediate and total elimination of all dissident factors. The foolish rulers must not have studied the histories of heretical rebellions that have occurred in other new imperial worlds._

Needless to say, small protests eventually evolved into large-scale demonstrations, and those escalated into riots.

By the time the Arbites and the PDF cracked down on the movement, arresting and executing many of the leaders, it was too late. Many innocent lives had been lost and the seeds of dissent had been planted.

Kyzen had been assigned to the hulking capital city of Brux Prime, along with hundreds of other tech-priest adepts.

His master had used his influence to shuffle events that caused Kyzen to arrive on the first shuttle. Many more tech priests would be arriving the next several months.

He looked at the world with equal parts anticipation, nervousness, and excitement. For this was a world woefully unenlightened in the ways of the machine god, and he would be one of the first of many to bring enlightenment to them.

He said a quick prayer asking for forgiveness for the careless unnecessary emotions he was feeling.

Although his feelings were blunted by emotion inhibitors, the hardware installed was minimal. His Master, among other things, felt that the rational and clear thinking was the duty of the individual.

However, Kyzen knew that certain emotions had their time and place. Righteous fury could make the difference between defeat and victory when confronting the enemies of Omnissiah. He had also been taught that sorrow at the loss of a machine spirit was a form of worship.

Pushing aside his emotions, the task lying before him was truly daunting. His official assignment had been to assist in the reformation of the forge worlds industry, this would double as his first trial as a full member of the machine cult.

This was a now a forge world after all and it, as well as all the citizens inhabiting it, belonged to Mars.

The current planetary government would be allowed to stay in power as long as they knew who they served. The presence of the Omnissiah's red-robed disciples would serve as an ample reminder.

It had been to revealed to him early on that Mars and the Adeptus Administratum wished to make sure that the planet truly did have their population under control.

He had even heard whispers of whispers that the Inquisition had sent an agent upon this very ship.

Kyzen however, dismissed this as foolish gossip. He had personally checked the crew manifest of personnel and it certainly didn't show any inquisitor onboard.

His contact was the planetary governor himself, a noble named Corbin Ashford. His clan had achieved this by maintaining a long-standing alliance with the ruling house, Kyzen knew this would give him an edge and was thankful for his masters' foresight.

Behind this thin shroud of diplomacy though there were a million other reasons why he had been sent.

One personal objective he had been made aware of was a power play of his masters. Torqid's never-ending ambition required more forge-worlds under his influence if he was ever to make a play for Archmagos.

Kyzen had been taught from birth that knowledge was the true currency of this universe. An unimaginable amount of it was still hidden to him, Only available to the upper-priesthood of the Mechanicus. This torturous curiosity was a strong motivator for all Tech-Priest.

It was not uncommon for an Archmagos to control entire systems or even sectors. Hundreds of Thousands of Skitarii under his control, millions of Servitors, explorator fleets. And unimaginable wealth both conventional and in priceless databanks stored in the individual's estates back on Mars.

Kyzen wanted it all, both the power and the Knowledge. _My rise to power shall begin here. After I claim Artemia Majoris for my own, I shall begin my true work. My inventions and factories will benefit Mankind, and I will grind the enemies of the Omnisiah to dust beneath my mechadendrites. My dynasty shall last for millennia beyond number, and the name Kyzen Castilian shall be known far and wide for generations to come!_

In the midst of his scheming, he let out a subconscious mechanical purr from his voice emulator. An ensign at a console nearby started at the sound, she gave him a nervous glance but quickly returned to her work.

As Kyzen calmed down he directed his attention to the view-screens. The PDF fleet escorting them to the port was an interesting combination of ships.

The majority of the ships were simple civilian barges and transports converted into military vessels with macro cannons and other armaments attached to their hulls. A modest amount of extra armoring was welded over their weak points.

Scattered among their number where imperial frigates and destroyers, hulking among the lesser vessels, acting as a flagship, was an Overlord class grand cruiser.

 _That makes the Omnissiah Prudence the second largest ship in the system Kyzen felt a bit uneasy about how vulnerable the world was to orbital attack_

Although this fleet was sorely lacking in firepower it was definitely enough to send any raiding parties of local pirates packing.

The imperial port loomed into view. The port itself seemed to still be under construction, as they came closer and closer the structure swelled to fill the viewport. '

Although it was indeed large it was nothing compared to the orbital shipyards orbiting mars known as the Ring of Iron.

The ship finally docked and a hissing hydraulic sound passed along the bridge. Kyzen excused himself from the bridge and made for his quarters to gather his things. Once again the unwanted feeling of apprehension shot through him.

The hallways seemingly devoid of life only a few hours ago was now bustling with activity

Servitors and bondsmen hurried through the corridors by the hundreds, M _any of them will be unloading the cargo bay no doubt_

They had a cargo of manufacturing equipment, mining gear, and hundreds of thousands of Mars pattern small arms weapons.

Kyzen saw several other Mechanicus Adepts and Initiates preparing for their own assignments.

Referencing the ships maps stored in his internal databanks, Kyzen made his way into the ships launch bays where an Aquila Lander was being prepared for him in the hanger. He checked the ID number to verify it was his shuttle.

The boarding ramp was down with two Skitarii guarding it. Kyzen approached without being challenged.

The pilot of the craft noticed him "its...Adept Castilian correct"

"Affirmative, I am ready to depart." Kyzen admired the lander, he rested his hand on the hull.

"This craft is in remarkably good condition" he murmured, He directed his praise more to the ship than to the pilot.

The man stood a little straighter misinterpreting the tech-priests praise and puffed out his chest.

"Yes, I've been observing the Enginseers work on the other craft and I picked up some trick's of my own"

Kyzen snapped his attention to the man, his telescopic eye contracted and he cocked his head slightly. "Are you implying...that you made unsanctioned modifications to this craft?"

The man began to sweat profusely realizing he had just potentially incriminated himself, "N-no not at all, I-I just meant..." He trailed off.

Kyzen didn't wish to punish the poor man for such a minor transgression and decided to cut him a break.

"There will be no disciplinary action taken this time, but in the future, I advise that you keep this to yourself"

"I'll further advice you have an Enginseer present next time you decide to maintenance your craft."

He bowed his head in embarrassment and mumbled his thanks. He thumbed a handheld communication device and contacted the flight controllers letting him know they were ready for lift-off.

To Kyzens disappointment the Skitarii guards did not accompany him to the journey down below. Although he doubted he would be in danger, they were a comforting reminder of Mars in this unfamiliar environment.

Onboard he saw an ample space for him and his belongings. A domed observation window was installed on the roof as well as several rectangular windows on the side. The passenger compartment was large enough to have easily fit ten men, fine padded couches surrounded an intricately carved coffee table with looked to be made of Catachan jungle wood. Although Captain Locke had likely loaned this shuttle as a show of respect, the luxury was lost on Kyzen,

 _The measures humanity goes to give the appearance of wealth is astounding, it would be much more efficient to devote this space to extra armoring or weapon systems._

As the ship left the hanger it moved with surprising speed for such a small craft. They were almost immediately within the atmosphere.

Peering out of a rectangular viewport Kyzen got his first visual of the planet's surface.

It was a watery planet. Similar to records of what ancient Terra looked like. Unlike Terra, however, the continents of Artemia Majoris still had several patches of green.

Further, inspection revealed how rapidly industry was claiming the planet. The atmosphere was shrouded with smog. In addition, large swathes of land visible even from the lander's altitude were conspicuously barren,

 _Most likely a result of clearcutting._

Ten short minutes passed and a landing platform came into view

A vehicle and a small entourage were waiting for him.

The shuttle landed smoothly and the doors hissed open. As Kyzen made his way down the landing ramp he counted six soldiers and their superior standing in formation.

The officer was a woman was wearing a stylized blue and gold dress uniform. Kyzen recognized the colors of imperial house Ashford.

He studied her uniform and noticed several military commendations and medals decorating her dress uniform, she was wearing gold-braided epaulets on her shoulders and a decorative cavalry sword hung at her hip.

The Captain had shoulder-length blonde hair and sharp facial features that reminded Kyzen of ancient Terran birds of prey.

Her voice had a strange singsong accent to it. Her words rang out clear and haughty, She was clearly someone who expected to be listened to and obeyed.

"Ah, you must be the one we came here to collect?... I am Kyra Ashford, commander of the Ashford house guard. Let's make this quick, time is of the essence"

Kyzen had the feeling she thought him little more than a servant, he retorted in a cold monotone voice. "Yes I agree, time is always of the essence. Which make it all the more unfortunate that our docking was delayed by half an hour because someone failed to notify your fleet of our arrival"

Captain Kyras features hardened but she said nothing. she briskly procured a data slate.

"To confirm your identity"

Kyzen allowed the slate to scan his biosignature. It beeped and showed a verified symbol along with some information about him.

"Excellent this way" she motioned towards the armored car, it was decorated with blue regalia and gold trim, an obvious display of house Ashfords wealth.

As Kyzen made his way to the vehicle he noticed the soldiers were better equipped than regular guardsmen. They where armed with hotshot lasguns and wore ornamental golden crested helmets. He concluded they must be some sort of honor guard.

Once his back was to them, believing that Kyzen couldn't see them, several openly stared at him in amazement.

Captain Kyra directed him to the car. Once inside his walking chassis folded and rearranged, allowing him to sit comfortably.

The Captain sat directly across from him along with two guardsmen. The rest of the squad climbed up ladders to an armored vantage point on top of the car.

For the next several minutes, The Tech-Priest sat frozen still , minus the occasional twitching of a mechadendrite. His deep-set hood hid his face, all that was visible was kyzens three glowing oculars.

It unnerved everyone in the car that they couldn't tell who, or what, he was looking at. The two soldiers sat stiff-backed and sweating not daring to make eye contact or even blink, both where convinced he was watching them.

Captain Kyra narrowed hawklike eyes at him, _wha is this Tech-Priests game? Is he plotting to undermine me again in front of my men, or is this an intimidation attempt? Well, two can play at that game._ She crossed her arms and leveled her eyes with the receptors of the strange Cyborg. She tried her best to look both unfazed and authoritative.

Kyzen had been completely absorbed with some blueprints he had been working on for a more efficient lasgun capacitor. With no small effort, he dragged himself away from his virtual blueprints and into reality.

The soldier's biosignatures implied that they were having small mental breakdowns. Kyzen wondered if they would be alright.

Kyra was looking at him with a strange look on her face, Kyzen lamented that his knowledge of organic facial expressions was woefully lacking.

Kyzen decided that this was a good opportunity to gather information and tried to take on a diplomatic approach "I was wondering if you would be able to fill me in on the state of house Ashford."

The Captain started as though he had shouted at her. She looked at him with suspicion. The look was not quite a glare, but not far from it. She sniffed "I am not authorized to tell you that, and besides, the affairs of house Ashford are our own."

 _So she thinks of me as an outsider_. _Its to be expected I suppose, these people haven't had face to face interaction with the Mechanicus since the great crusade._

"As an emissary of clan Petrovius, I will need to know everything about our current situation in order to assist you,

His receptors still told him that she looked hesitant so he continued.

"I'm sure the supplies and financial aid we have sent your house was enough to convince you that we mean to honor our alliance."

Captain Kyra was silent for a moment longer and then sighed.

"I apologize for the secrecy...the aid is greatly appreciated and allies are hard to come by these days I meant no offense."

Kyzen bowed his head accepting the apology as she continued.

"As you know we are an ancient and proud house. However... Recent events have left us in a...slightly unfavorable situation. The Mining Cartels reject the Nobility and everything we represent, traditions, control, duty. They have been trying to undermine us for centuries."

Its common knowledge that the cartels resent us for cutting in on their profit. They are strong-arming us out of the market and our allies have withdrawn their support. Weak cowards every one of them!"

Kyra's haughty tone returned all at once as if to compensate for admitting weakness "We shall persevere as our ancestors before us have done for centuries. We shall crush them like the traitorous insects they are!"

Kyzens oculars dilated in amusement at her determination.

"Of course, please continue"

"Recently the Son's of Retribution uprisings have caused us a great amount of annoyance. Their latest attack has cut off an industrial block containing almost half our remaining factories."

"Duke Corbin Ashford is currently mustering forces to take them back. I have the honor of personally leading the offensive...I assure you this rebellion with be crushed quickly and without mercy, one would have to be an utter lunatic to think such scum could oppose the unstoppable might of the Ashford nobility!"

Aas the car drove through the upper city, the Captain went on to explain the battle plans and resistance expected.

 _My master will be pleased by this, judging by Kyra's report, this war shall be won in a couple of months_. Kyzen was emboldened by the good news as it would allow him to focus on his long-term plans for this planet.

Kyzen split his attention through the use of neural cognitors between Kyra and observing the city through the eyes of Mia who was hovering above.

The architecture around them was an interesting combination of aesthetics and functionality. Kyzen, who was used to the pure utilitarianism of martian architecture, was unfamiliar to the concept and was eager to analyze the building techniques.

As they moved deeper into the city Kyzen was immediately able to identify the Ashford estates. The estates consisted of a gothic palace surrounded by tall titanium plated rockcrete walls. To his surprise, an extendable drawbridge bridged a gap that spanned many miles deep to the lower city.

Upon further inspection, he noticed gun emplacements and artillery platforms built into the walls. The domed roof and spires of the palace cleverly concealed anti-air guns. The central keep housed a bombardment cannon the size an Imperial Knight would use.

 _Impressive, it bears traces of Macragian architecture, perhaps an undocumented detachment of Ultramarines participated in the colonization of this world._ Kyzen made a note of this in his internal databanks,

As the car drove up closer to the Palace the drawbridge extended and the gates groaned open. The grounds were much larger than Kyzen had initially thought, now they where inside he saw many secondary buildings, a barracks, an armory, housing for the servants, even a pleasure garden with living trees.

The car came to a stop at the front of the palace. Two statues hundreds of feet tall stood either side of him.

Captain Kyra cleared her throat "The Duke wishes to speak to you personally, mind yourself around him, he is a great man and I won't tolerate any disrespect."

Uniformed servants rushed to take Kyzens luggage, he gave over everything but his Power Axe. It was a sign of his authority and the most valuable thing he owned, he wasn't going to relinquish it that easily.

They made their way through another set of heavy metal doors. The house guard snapped quick salutes to the Captain and did a double-take at the sight of Kyzen.

Captain Kyra led him through the palace upwards until the arrived at a simple wooden door. Kyzen steeled himself for his first meeting with the Planetary Governor.

* * *

 _ **Blessed is the Machine for steel is Immortal**_

-Third mantra of the Forgelord's commandments-


	3. Chapter 3

Captain Kyra knocked on the door. "My Lord, I have brought the Tech-Priest as ordered"

A male voice sounded from behind the door. "Enter" Duke Corbin was an old man with snow white hair.

His face was spiderwebbed with wrinkles and his back was bent with age. He wore a cloak bearing the blue and gold crest of house Ashford bound by a simple golden clasp.

The room was rather plain for a Planetary Governors. Books covered the floor and loose papers were everywhere. Candles burned in a chandelier overhead. In the center of the room there was an antique wooden desk, the ceiling consisted of a glass observatory.

His face broke into a friendly grin,

"Tech-Priest! you must be the prized apprentice of that old geezer Torqid. Pleasure to finally meet you."

He spoke energetically and with an air of self-confidence, in stark contrast, there was a noticeable wheeze of frailty to his breathing.

He grabbed Kyzen's right hand and shook it vigorously.

Kyzen resisted the urge to recoil in surprise. After his similar encounter with Captain Locke, he concluded that this contact was some form of physical greeting.

"I would like to express how grateful we are to have you here, I see you've met my daughter. I hope she didn't scare you off already"

Kyra stiffened and her expression froze on her face.

"Joking, of course, my dear." he gave her a good-natured smile.

For the first time in a while, Kyzen felt genuine surprise that Kyra was heiress to the Planetary Governor. Now that he saw them together he noticed the similarities of their hawk-like features, though one was dulled by age.

Kyzen introduced himself with all his titles he could easily convey verbally "Your Lordship, my name is Kyzen Castilian, Adept of the Adeptus Mechanicus, Clergyman of the Machine cult, Artesian in training, Second rate Cybersmith, and Official Emissary of Clan Petrovius."

"Quite a list of titles, I would list mine but their likely put you right to sleep" Duke Corbin gave a hearty laugh that turned into a coughing fit.

Attendants rushed to his side, Corbin waved them away even as he coughed into a handkerchief. When he withdrew it from his mouth it was stained in his blood.

Captain Kyra held a look of concern "My Lord, it's getting worse, isn't it?"

Her voice softened from one of a hardened officer to that of a worried daughter.

"You're pushing yourself too hard Father, you need rest."

Corbin waved the words away. "Nonsense, one or two regenerative treatments and I'll be right as rain, these lungs have lasted two hundred years I'm sure they can last through a conversation. Now leave us, all of you. I wish to speak with Adept Castilion alone."

The servants and guards jumped to obey, Kyra Opened her mouth as if to protest but decided better of it. She tightly gripped the hilt of her sword as if to fight off an invisible enemy. She bowed "Yes My Lord" and reluctantly left the room.

Duke Corban walked over took a seat at his study, he motioned for Kyzen to sit as well.

"Tell me what you know about the state of Brux Prime and our house?"

He replied honestly "Only what could be found in the official reports and what Kyra has told me."

"And what did My Daughter tell you? That our house is glorious and powerful, that victory is in our grasp?"

Kyzen dipped his hooded head "...Something similar to that"

"You'll have to forgive her...she has great difficulty accepting the fate of our house she prefers to live in denial than to admit the truth, I suppose she gets some of her stubbornness from me."

For the first time bitterness entered the Duke's voice and his broad shoulders slumped slightly.

"The truth is that we are a shadow of our former selves, the Cartels and their Council hold all the power now, they have turned our allies against us...turned our people against us. Clan Petrovius is one of our last remaining ally's, without the aid we have received I fear we would have gone bankrupt years ago."

Kyzens nutrient-enhanced blood ran cold, he had been informed that the governor was firmly in power and he would simply be able to ensure their allegiance. His mind raced.

 _Normally the Mechanicus wouldn't give a damn who's in power as long as they paid their tithes and maintained their production quotas. However, my clan has already publicly sided with his house._

 _If House Ashford falls, I will have failed my assignment miserably. Even more importantly I'll have lost my only chance at advancement within the Mechanicus._

Kyzens metal face showed no emotion, but his mechadendrites began to twist and curl themselves into knots, a nervous tick he had picked up.

"Your daughter told me you are mustering the PDF to take back your factories, what's to stop you from using them to force the cartels into submission?"

The duke forced out a bitter laugh "The PDF is under cartel payroll now, the last battalion loyal to me was wiped out defending those factories. The counter attack is a last ditch effort of my house guard and mercenaries."

 _There must be a way to turn this around, think!_

"What sort of weaponry are the Sons of Retribution armed with?"

The Duke looked down one of his reports.

"Autoguns and stubbers, along with a few captured lasguns, we also have reports that they have secured a catch of mining grade explosives and laser cutting equipment."

 _They hardly sound like a threat._

"From what I've seen your forces far outgun them. A single armored division should prove their match."

He sighed "The strength of the rebels lies in their numbers and their willingness to die. They outnumber us fifteen to one. My houses only heavy support consists of six rhinos. They are relics left over from the Great Crusade, just like this fortress."

"You must remember Tech-Priest, not long ago we were a completely peaceful agri-world, we have neither the building plans, nor the need to produce military vehicles.

"Truth is even our PDF consists almost entirely of infantry and converted civilian vehicles."

Kyzen had heard enough, he coxed the sharpest tone he could from his voice emulator. "Then your ancestors were sinfully negligent!"

He continued with the closest emotion to anger his kind could express

"In the name of Mars, I will be commandeering your remaining factories for an indefinite amount of time. As a sanctified Cybersmith, I have been blessed with STC digital copies for both the Lemus Russ tank and the sentinel class walker."

Duke Corban looked taken aback at first, then his face broke into a good-natured smile. "I didn't know you tinkerers had this much spunk, however, there's one problem...my factories make farming equipment and starship engines, not war machines."

 _Tinkers!? Many would find using that term to describe the Mechanicus to be borderline heretical._

Kyzen restrained himself from brandishing his power ax in his face.

 _No, I need his resources to find a way out of this mess._

"The materials we delivered were intended to build new manufactorums, we will have to divert them into converting and expanding existing factories. With enough servitors...It can be done within the month."

The Duke considered his options, "Alright I agree to your proposal. Soon I fear the factory will no longer be mine to give, by the throne I hope you can live up to your promises."

Kyzen nodded pleased that Duke Corbin was seeing reason. "Do not underestimate the power of the Omnissiah...Now I have much to attend to, I will need an overview of the raw materials you have available and the manpower ready to work."

"Of course, a scribe will be assigned to you...oh and servant to show you to your quarters."

Their meeting was over, To say Kyzen was displeased with the situation was a major understatement.

 _This planet is filled with rebels and pacifists, It simply won't do for a forge world to be virtually undefended. It is clearly marked out_ _in the imperial doctrine the size of the garrison required. Have they lost their minds? The Administratum would have their heads if they found out._

Kyzen considered sending a report to his master asking for military support.

 _No to go crawling for help this soon will make me look incompetent, I need to determine the situation first hand and go from there._

He claimed a secluded room in one of the towers, It was a data library of Artemia Majoris local history. He longed to annex them into his personal databanks, but that would have to wait.

Kyzen spent the next two days tirelessly and methodically analyzing the available resources. Once he was done with that he moved on to formulating alloys and weapon patterns. The work progressed quickly as much of the blueprints were already laid out in the STC. He kept a team of attendants busy collecting his personal belongings still aboard the Omnissiahs Prudence.

These included a self-maintenance forge and scriptures documenting rituals he had not yet memorized.

Kyzen had also a brought a years supply of incense and blessed titan engine oil.

All of these things would be essential for sanctifying the new factories and it worried Kyzen that his materials would eventually run out with no way to replace them.

The Duke had offered him luxurious quarters inside the castle, but Kyzen turned down his offer. He would settle with a simple hab unit near the factories, at least until a proper temple to the Omnissiah could be constructed.

Although he didn't know where they had been assigned he knew several of his fellow priests would be hard at work constructing their own temples at this very moment.

* * *

Two days later Kyzen was pleased with his progress.

 _There are ample silica deposits near the surface of these mines, refining these with stores of steal house Ashford already possess would create a durable plasteel alloy. With the abundance is petroleum I can easily craft promethium based weaponry, as well as potent incendiary bombs._

Changing the building designs for STCs was high tech-heresy, the STCs made it very clear however that using available building material and weapon configuration was permitted, even encouraged. This resulted in different patterns of imperial weaponry and vehicles. Some rose to fame and were sought after for their speed, armor, or reliability.

Kyzens recalled that there were somewhere around three million patterns of the standard lasgun...and those where only the recorded ones. As he put the finishing touches on his Leman Russ Blueprint he hesitated on what to call it. Some tech-priests named their variants after the planet that produced them, guard companies that used it, or after themselves.

Kyzen decided upon the more ambitious route.

 **~(I hereby declare the Castilian pattern Leman Russ tank, the first of its kind**. **)~**

He proclaimed this to no one in particular, he had just always wanted to say it.

He examined his work with pride, His reputation was now linked to the performance of this holy machine.

The tank would be bulky and slow, yet would have strong offensive capabilities and heavy armor. It would be built for urban warfare with spindle promethium flamers and a demolisher cannon for collapsing buildings on top of the enemy.

The demolisher cannon could alternatively fire napalm rounds that would melt flesh and metal alike. Dozer blades would be mounted on the front to clear rubble and mines ahead of them.

Kyzen was already mentally formulating blueprints for the sentinels but they would have to wait. What he needed now was to survey the factories.

The transport was better than Kyzen had hoped, an antigrav cargo vessel in good condition, flying was the only way to descend into the lower hive without taking public transportation.

The Ashford house had only five remaining factories, the lost complex had housed seven more.

The factories were located in a secondary manufacturing block, it would be several hours even with a fast ship. As they descended from the spires acrid smoke and fumes clouded the air. It became difficult to see due to the smog.

Kyzen was unaffected as his rebreather did its job. The loadouts from his filtration systems showed this air had only one-tenth the pollution of Mars.

The sun faded away as they went deeper into the hive until man-made structures completely closed off the sky above them, the spaces between buildings grew more claustrophobic and Kyzen could see masses of people below on the street below.

The gap opened up into a giant artificial cavern of industry, factories consumed the space, cylindrical smokestacks joined together and vanished into the ceiling forming irregular pillars the loudspeaker had to avoid.

Waste pipes joined together, leading to either the outskirts or simply dumped into the sewage rivers of the underhive. industrial elevators transported thousands of tons of raw materials to the factories, and finished products up to be either shipped off-world or sold in Brux Prime financial district.

The pilot landed on the factory landing pad with a jolt. Before Kyzen exited the aircraft he addressed the attendants "You may bring my equipment to my quarters, CAREFULLY, anything missing or broken and you'll be liveing out the rest of your days as a servitor."

With only his power ax, Mia, and the authority of Mars, Kyzen entered the factory.

* * *

 _ **Let nothing dissuade your quest for knowledge. Let non slow your pursuit and acquisition of holy technology let no one stand between you and the procurement of that which is rightfully the machine gods due.**_

 _-Thusdorius Knoch, Magos Acquisitor_


	4. Chapter 4

Outside the doors to the factory there were two bulky Ogryns. The where armed with oversized stub pistols and crude clubs made of lead pipes. Kyzen could see no identifications or markings on their stained grey overalls. They had shaved heads and were wearing filtration masks.

Kyzen gathered that they must be bodyguards to keep intruders out, and workers in line. As he approached them they noticed Kyzen for the first time and blocked the door with their bodies.

"you not come in, Boss said so."

"I am Adept Kyzen Castillion, The Ashford house has placed this factory under my command. I demand entry."

"Never heard of no Ash-ferd, YOU GO WAY!" he cracked his oversized knuckles menacingly.

The other one who was glaring at Kyzen had a dim flash of recognition. "Hey Thuk, dis guy kinda look like Boss!'

The one named Thruk crouched down and squinted at him.

"You... little metal man, you know boss?"

Kyzen saw his chance to get past the dullards. "Yes, your...Boss is expecting me, he's going to be very angry if you stop me."

They looked at each other, confusion evident on their deformed faces. The second Ogryn grabbed Kyzen with a vice-like grip. "I take you to da boss, I don wan no funny busniss"

He escorted Kyzen through the door and he got his first look inside the factory. It teamed with workmen, they were dwarfed by the smelters and columns of molten metal pouring down to the lower levels. Although his sanctified robes sheltered him from the heat, his external sensors noted a drastic rise in temperatures. Kyzen gathered that this was the foundry section of the manufactorum.

 _Although a Forgelord or Smithpriest would be ideal. As a Cybersmith and Artesian in training, I have a basic understanding of metalworking,_

The rankings and hierarchies of the Mechanicus where complex and ill-defined. Generally Artesian where creators and builders, they controlled the vast majority of a forge-worlds day-to-day dealing,

Their duties also consisted of leading defensive operations and constructing fortification, Kyzen's sub focus as a Cybersmith focused on creating advanced and arcane weaponry.

Kyzen grew weary of being hauled around like a puppet. **~(Activate subdermal matrix 15%)~** a low-strength electric current shot through the wiring concealed beneath the thin outer layer of his robes.

Kyzen mentally frowned, it had no effect on the brute, **~(Activate subdermal matrix 30%)~** The Ogryn grunted and jerked a smoking and blackened hand away from Kyzens arm, the pain finally registering in its underdeveloped brain.

He looked at his burnt hand in confusion and then glared at Kyzen, his dim mind telling him Kyzen was somehow responsible. Despite this, he did not try to grab him again.

The foundry seemed to stretch for miles, the work looked hot and dangerous. Men toiled away, manually dumping cauldrons of molten metal by pulling giant chains in teams of twenty or more. Hundreds of workers shoveled coal into hungry furnaces. Piles of coal the size of land raiders were placed at strategic intervals around the furnaces.

There seemed to be a general lack of safety, there was no protective equipment provided for the workers. Throughout they factory you would be pressed to find a single guardrail. A single misstep could earn you a painful death in a vat of molten metal. None of this particularly concerned Kyzen.

 _People can be replaced, failed production quotas can not._

Prior to his induction, he had worked as a child in a manufactorum very similar to this one, he knew this was standard throughout the Imperium.

What did concern him, however, was the lack of overseers, he could see walkways high above where they should have been. The few overseers he did see where few and far between, and they seemed on unusually friendly terms with the workers they should have been given regular beatings too.

They moved out of the foundry into the assembly complex. The newly forged plates where transported on large hooks to be cut and used on the assembly lines.

Kyzens previous thoughts vanished in an instant, he froze in disbelief, A figure in a red robe with white trim was examining a broken conveyor belt engine.

 _A fellow Tech-Priest aboard the Omnisiahs Prudence couldn't have possibly taken over this factory so quickly, could there have truly been tech-priests already here without my knowledge?_

Kyzen was conflicted, the man's uniform was that of a Tech-priest but could see no data aura, he sent out a hesitant greeting using multiple dialects of Lingua technis as a form of courtesy. He attached data-tags of greeting and respect. The man showed no reaction.

"Ey Boss dis er Metal man says he knows you." The man reacted with a sigh of exasperation without looking up. "What now Grulk?, I have a lot to do, without you coming to me everyti-" He stopped short when he saw Kyzen.

Kyzen put the man to be in his early twenties, he had unkempt brown hair poking out from under his hood, the man had no apparent augments, he had several tattoos on the side of his neck. They were not Mechanicus electoo identifiers.

 _They look like the hive gang tattoos, although these look as if they were done by a professional. And they look...industrial?_

The man hastily got up and wiped the engine grease off his hands, He addressed him in a polite and pleasant tone, the lilting Bruxian accent thick upon his voice. "Ah hello... and who'r you?"

"Tech-priest Adept Kyzen Castilian, acting advisor to house Ashford, I'm sure you were informed that ownership of this factory has been handed over to me?" Kyzen flashed an official Ashford crest he had been given.

"Ah...you can go back to your workstation Grulk, you did well bring him to me" Grulk grunted and lumbered off the way he came.

" You must excuse me, the Nobles almost never send anyone down here as long as quotas stay high, I didn't know what to expect. Th'names Marcus Vivius, and I'm at your service...mi'lord" he gave an awkward bow.

Kyzen was even more perplexed by this man, no Tech-priest would ever bow to someone, not even a novice to the Fabricator General himself.

"I'm eager to inspect my new factory. However, before we begin I must inquire...why are you dressed as a Tech-priest though you are not one? And what gives you the authority to heal that broken machine spirit?"

"His eyes widened, You think I look like one of these...Tech-priests? These colors are my guilds colors... And here I am wonder'n why one of my guildmates was ordering around nobles, not to mention all the...extra parts you've got." Marcus gestured towards Kyzen's legs with a nervous laugh.

"You belong to a guild?"

"Aye, I'm a full member of the Bruxian mechanics guild, we have headquarters all over Brux prime. We do vehicle repairs an hire out our services to the owners of factories and what-not, make sure everythin's running smoothly. Can't complain ya'know, it pays well...even if the guild does take a cut."

Kyzen was aghast, he knew of the existence of such guilds on smaller forge-worlds. Within his order they were referred to as menials, they had basic knowledge of simple Mechanicus rituals.

That being said every menial was required to be registered and overseen by a full-fledged Tech-Priest. The information that an unregistered unsupervised guild was maintaining every factory in the hive was quite frankly, terrifying.

 _I must reserve judgment. Let me see for myself if this guild is dangerous to the factories they oversee._

Marcus wiped the sweat dripping from his brow "I didn't think you'd be here so soon Sir, I've been tryin to get this factory in order for you. I swear, as soon as I got word you would be visitin, things started breakin ten times faster than usual."

Kyzen's voice turned cold and even more mechanical.

"A convenient excuse, I assure you that no excuses shall save you if I deem you a Heretek. Repair that conveyer engine, I need to see proof of your methods. I will then decide whether or not you deserve to die"

The blood drained from Marcus's face "W-wait hold up, surely you must be joking!"

Kyzen unfurled his mechadendrites threateningly, "Tech-priests are not known for their sense of humor...I suggest that you do as I ask."

He hoisted his Power Axe but refrained from activating it.

Marcus gulped before dropping to his knees in front of the engine, he proceeded to unroll a collection of tools wrapped in treated leather.

 _Perhaps I overdid it._

The man's hands were shaking so badly he dropped his screwdriver. Marcus stopped and took a shaky breath. He closed his eyes for a second to gather himself before picking up the dropped screwdriver.

With newfound clarity, his hands steadied themselves, allowing him to begin the repairs.

Kyzen could not help but admire his natural ability to suppress emotions, a trait prized among the Mechanicus. It was something Kyzen himself often struggled with.

 _And Marcus is managing this without emotional suppressor implants...impressive._

He watched Marcus work for almost twenty minutes. Mia hovered around him allowing Kyzen to see every angle of his work.

Kyzen, with the help of thermal scans, had seen the issue almost immediately. One of the central hydraulic lines had been clogged with industrial sludge. It took Marcus longer to find it, he did several tests on each of the moving components and lines and found the clog using a process of elimination.

He began the process of clearing the blockage, this was the part Kyzen was most keen to see, the wrong technique could cause irreversible damage to the engine.

Although he felt shame at putting a machine spirit in danger Kyzen knew the removal of a heretek could save many more in the future.

The methods Marcus used, however, where not heretical. In fact, he showed an intimate knowledge of the machines disassembly process. Kyzen followed along comparing the correct doctrines in his head

 **-Initiate the ritual by removing the outer plating-**

 **-Using a two-inch wrench unscrew the upper valve counter-clockwise three times-**

 **\- Take care not to strip the threading, three days of fasting is required in penitence for failure-**

 **-Apply blessed lubricant before steam has the chance to escape but not until the tainted substance has drained out-**

 **-Reattach cleansed piping and cleanse the surrounding area of corruption and rust-**

 **-Remove any excess lubricant by dabbing, not wiping, with a purified rag.-**

 **-To finish recite the prayer of cleansing-**

To Kyzens displeasure the man did not recite any prayers, though in truth it was an optional step for such a minor machine spirit.

 **-Give praise to the machine spirit within and bless with sacred talisman to ensure long-lasting sanctity of the vessel-**

At the end of the process, Kyzen was surprised to see the guildsman take out an amulet on a thin chain and swayed it like a pendulum around the engine before moving to the next minor jam.

The engine started up with a triumphant roar and Marcus allowed himself a moment of rest. Now that the repairs where complete Kyzen had come to a conclusion.

"There, I fixed it...now can you please lower that Axe?"

Kyzen felt that one last precaution was necessary " The amulet you used in your work? May I see it."

The overseer hesitated "it's nothing, just a silly trinket."

This only made Kyzen more determined to examine it. Chaos icons could often be the most inconspicuous of devices.

"Never the less I insist you hand it over."

Kyzen extended his open palm in a demanding manor.

Marcus relented, reaching into his robes. "It's just a guild heirloom...my lucky talisman I guess. I bring it everywhere I go."

The amulet was a small cog of adamantite engraved in lingua technis, a simple prayer warding against corruption. Kyzen gave it back to him.

After a moment of silence, the tech-priest spoke.

"You are no heretic."

Marcus let out a sigh of relief.

"I believe your guild are descendants of Tech-priests that settled here during the Great Crusade. Much has been forgotten though and needs to be relearned. Although your ritual worked this time, you must perform additional rites to protect it from breaking again."

He looked shocked "What do you mean by that? the Bruxian Mechanics guildsmen are well known for our skills, no one else has ever come close. I've never even heard of one of these, um...Tech-Priests you claim created it."

"The evidence is undeniable, you have knowledge of secret Mechanicus rituals, your guild colors are the colors of Mars, and you are even in possession tech-priest artifacts"

"The Mechanicus is about to become a very big part of your life, all of your lives, thousands more like me will be arriving over the next several planet belongs to us and your guild must adapt to our ways...or perish, you will bring my teachings to them. Now let me enlighten you on the wonders of the Omnissiah."

Kyzens relatively short sermon went on for an hour. At the end, Marcus looked troubled.

"Lord Kyzen, what about the Emperor? The imperial preachers said that he is the true God of all mankind. If I abandon the Emperor won't I be damning my soul?"

Kyzen lit an incense stick with a mechadendrite and placed it on the newly repaired engine. "Of course not, The emperor is just one of the forms the Omnissiah has chosen to bring enlightenment to mankind. My ancestors recognized that truth at the end of the age of strife. They are one in the same...the god of knowledge and order"

"You have been worshiping the Omnissiah all this time, you need only open your eyes to our greater truth. Now tell me of your factory."

Marcus distractedly went over the manufacturing capacity in great detail, as well as the resource consumption and manpower employed. He was very knowledgeable of the factory and seemed to take his assignment seriously.

Kyzen did some quick estimations and found there to be an efficiency rate of sixty-five percent.

"There is much we need to do, starting today this factory will no longer manufacture starship engines, you will be creating Leman Russ battle tanks to defend your planet. And when we are victorious they shall be used to help defend far-flung worlds throughout the Imperium!"

He ended his speech triumphantly as a fraction of the zeal he was feeling slipped in.

"You will help me, gather your guild, teach them what I have taught you. I will require men and machinery to convert this factory."

Kyzen supplied Marcus with a data-slate containing basic Mechanicus sanctioned rituals to distribute among his guild.

"Take this purity seal, should any Tech-priests question you, let them know you have my blessing. We shall begin at once."

* * *

And so they did, three weeks passed as Kyzen visited each of the five factories, he oversaw the construction of whole new wings devoted to weapon manufacturing. Great hangers were constructed for workmen to mount treads on tank chassis, more efficient furnaces where installed to melt down stronger alloys.

As more workmen where required, a small migration of roughly three thousand people along with their families moved into newly constructed hab units.

Most importantly proper idols were installed in every factory exactly to his specifications, great ivory and iron omnisian skulls, the holy Machina Opus, gazed sternly down upon the workers. Incense burners swung from iron chandeliers mounted on the arched ceilings.

Vox speakers where mounted on the walls emitting a steady stream of devotional hymns to the Omnissiah, both in lingua technis and in low gothic. Purity seals were fastened to every piece of machinery he could get his hands on. And finally, Kyzen personally sanctified each of the factories in oil and incense.

More of Marcus's guild members arrived in the following weeks, Kyzen set them to work. As overseers of the factories, they would perform the rituals he didn't have time for. The menials were far from proficient, about as knowledgeable as unproven Tech-neophyte. Nevertheless, Kyzen was grateful for the help.

He took time to record their names, once the Mechanicus was fully in control he would ensure they would be rewarded for answering his call. Through wealth, and for the most skilled, a possible chance at priesthood.

The materials needed where extensive, the elevators worked day and night to deliver new machinery to be installed, some parts the size of small hab units. A steady stream of transporters delivered the machinery, the progress was akin to a procession of worker ants.

Kyzen had fully established his base of operations in the factory block, he had converted an old abandoned government building into his personal workshop, the cog and skull of mars proudly decked the exterior of the building, his personal crest hung on banners outside.

He relayed his progress with house Ashford through a long-range vox communication device. The only snag he kept running into was a lack of servitors or trusted underlings, it was extremely inconvenient to convey orders in person instead of sending servitors.

He had been assigned two house guards for protection. Although they looked impressive appearance wise, Kyzen found both of them lacking. Whenever he was away from his workshop he knew they would often fraternize and gamble with the factory workers. There had been several times where he had caught them passed out drunk while off-duty.

He knew they resented him for pulling them away from their cushy lives in the spires and forcing them down in the smelly, dark, and altogether unpleasant Lower-hive. Even the lowliest servant in the Ashford Castle lived like a king compared to the workmen down in the factories.

 _I see no problem with this at a macroscopic level, society has always, and will always, run on a strict hierarchy. The weak serve the strong and the strong protect the weak...as it should be._

 _Like a well-oiled machine everyone must serve their part. Humanity is flawed, in that when removed from their position, they cannot adapt to their new roles in the same way a mechanical component can._

 _A perplexing problem for another time, I have more important concerns right now,_

At the end of the third week, Kyzen went out to inspect the progress of a lasgun factory that had recently begun construction,

He walked down a dimly lit street, trash and rubble lined the poorly maintained walking lanes. The street became narrower and narrower until it became an alleyway with two towering hab-units on each side of him He became aware of a group of people waiting at the end of it

There were five of them, all muscular and they shared similar tattoos, hive gang identifiers. They wore factory overalls that identified them as workers to the second factory Kyzen had annexed, it was devoted to producing ammunition.

They moved to block his way. Kyzen looked at them with disdain. "And just what do you think you're doing? Move at once!"

One of them shot him an insolent smirk.

"I don't think so, you're the one who put in that useless junk in our factory. All that chanting and awful incense is giving me headaches, and some throneing new overseer gave me a beating for showing up late by one measly hour!"

"I fail to see how this is my concern, take it up with him."

An ugly smile formed across his face. "Oh we did, no one messes with our crew and gets away with it. We bought a present for you."

They threw a bloody mess at Kyzens feet, a severed head that had been smashed in through severe blunt force trauma, the face was unrecognizable but he assumed it was the head of the deceased overseer.

Harsh laughter rippled through their group.

They pulled out makeshift cudgels and shanks made of sharpened scrap. The one who had been speaking appeared to be their leader. The man was armed with a semi-automatic stub-pistol and the Overseers looted taser goad.

 _They dare!?_

"Now it's your turn"

Kyzen activated his power axe and let out a mechanical hiss " **Blasphemy"**

His Axe, masterfully engraved with binharic declarations of faith, thirsted for the blood of these unbelievers.

the Power Axe's energy field shimmered to life, it let out an ominous deadly hum.

The men slowly advanced towards Kyzen, confident that their numbers would be enough to kill him.

 **~(initiate combat protocols level one)~**

Kyzens internal reactor kicked into overdrive, all available power was directed to his servos. Even as the Heretics closed the gap Kyzen could feel the newfound strength coursing through his augments.

According to his readouts, he could have easily punched his way through the solid rockcreate walls on either side of him to escape.

But he had no intention of fleeing. As his cognitaors went to work, combat calculations subconsciously flowed through his mind. They presented him the hundred of scenarios the skirmish could present and provided him with the best plan of action.

 _The makeshift melee weapons only have a three percent chance of getting through my armor, the taser goad has a sixty-two percent chance of causing long-term damage._

 **~(Neutralizing primary threat)~**

Four of the gangers moved to swing at Kyzen while their leader hung back, leisurely taking aim at Kyzen with his pistol.

His six legs, sent into overdrive by his combat protocols, lunged him towards the leader. The gangers had not been expecting Kyzen to go on the offensive, much less the speed he was capable of. He took full advantage of that and barreled through them knocking several over.

The leader was able to get a shot off but it pinged harmlessly off Kaizens sanctified carapace. His two bulky servo arms reached the man first, one pinned him to the wall by his torso. The other arms drill mechanism spun up in preparation for the kill.

Kyzen realized too late his mistake of leaving the gangers hands free. With a panicked look, the pinned man thumbed the activation rune and thrust the taser goad at Kyzens torso.

"DIE FREAK!"

The goad connected squarely with the tech-priests metal frame, electricity arced throughout his body, amplified by the internal masses of metal present.

Intense pain racked through him, his Oculars went offline showing him only static. Kyzen tried to move his biological limbs but the electric current had caused them to painfully clench against his chest.

He felt several impacts collide against his armoured back and he knew the other four gangers where trying to bludgeon him to death. He could not access if they were doing any damage.

Kyzen willed his body to move. As the initial electricity wore off, his right servo arm twitched, the drill still whirling was blindly thrust to where he guessed the gang leader was being held.

He was rewarded by the sound a death scream that quickly devolved into the sounds of a man drowning in his own blood.

The flow of electricity had stopped and Kyzen could move his body again, his Oculars were still only showing static and his more delicate neural implants were not responding.

 _Oh, Omnissiah forgive me for my carelessness! If I die today I will have truly deserved it. I only ask you deliver from evil the machine spirits that live within my implants._

Kyzen dropped the corpse and twisted his body, throwing off the attackers. His mechadendrites whipped in all directions and Kyzen swung his ax in great blind arcs forcing the other gangers to keep their distance.

They were at a stalemate, Kyzen was unable to locate the gangers and they were unwilling to approach him.

Kyzen tried in vain to hear where they were, his ears were still biological however and they lacked the pinpoint accuracy high-end audio augments would have given him.

He had a revelation and switched his optic input to Mia's camera. His Vision returned and he got the surreal sense of looking down upon himself in third person. With his newly regained sight he could see the dead leader with a large gory hole in his chest. Kyzen had drilled completely through him deep into the wall behind him.

The damage to Kyzens body looked mostly superficial. His robes had been torn and his armor scratched. The only damage visible was a gash in his unarmoured lower torso, it looked to have severed a power coupling linking his legs to his body.

 **-Lower power input at 80% -**

 **-Chasis operational capacity 98%-**

 _I can live with that_

The four remaining men were keeping their distance and were only now noticing their dead leader, their confidence was rapidly fading. "FRAK he killed Billy! wh-what should we do?"

"What do ya think, moron? there's four of us an only one of em, Kill him!"

While they were talking Kyzen was taking aim with his mechadendrite-mounted mini-laspistol, he fired and with a deadly flash it burned a hole through one of the men's unarmoured head.

Now that he was able to see again he swung his power ax in a way that would be undodgeable in such close quarters. The shimmering energy field could cut a fully armored space marine in two with one swing, it almost seemed a waste to use it on such filth as this unarmoured factory worker.

The two survivors rushed him but he easily blocked their desperate swings, his mechandrites wrapping around their weapons before they could connect.

At such close range, they could not avoid the wave of promethium that came spilling out of Kyzens servo-mounted blowtorch. They were dead before they hit the ground, the six thousand degree white-hot jet causing instant brain death.

Kyzen leaned against the wall, wheezing air through his respirator.

The fight had taken much out of him but he had emerged mostly unscathed.

His ocular arrays finally flickered back online and he saw the destruction he had caused first hand, his robe was soaked in an even deeper shade of red. Splintered bone and brain matter splattered the walls, the smell of burnt flesh wafted up from the men he had torched.

Kyzen had never killed another human before, sure he had lobotomized convicts back on mars in the creation of new servitors, but this was different. He had brutally murdered five men in close combat, unlike the creation of a servitor their deaths had served no purpose.

 _No...That's not right, their deaths did serve a purpose...They served as a test of my faith and I have passed. I have performed my duty in removing dangerous heretics from existence._

The thought calmed Kyzen, a combination of this and the relief of being alive cleared his head.

 _When called upon I must become a vessel for the machine god's wrath. I must not lose sight of this in the light of the upcoming battles._

Kyzen's newly-restored oculars picked out two silhouettes in the alley behind him. He turned to face them and he recognized the crested helmets of his two guards. He was grateful to see them and was about to call out a greeting when something occurred to him.

 _Why are they here? I sent no distress single. And they were supposed to be guarding my workshop._

Before Kyzen could react they raised their rifles to their shoulders and fired. Two hotshot las bolts punched into Kyzen like molten sledgehammers, throwing him several yards back. He landed on the ground so hard the rockcrete fractured under his weight.

Now he felt pain, It was true unfiltered pain undulled by his pain inhibitors. Up until now Kyzen had never imagined such a feeling could be so intense.

 **~(Damage report)~**

 **-Power to Servo harness: connection severed.-**

 **-Servo arm 53M5 A: Offline-**

 **-Servo arm 53M5 B: Offline-**

 **-Internal reactor: Critically Damaged, going into stasis.-**

 **-Ocular sensors: Damaged, in need of repair, Online-**

 **-Mechadendrite laspistol: Power Supply depleted-**

 **-Locomotion Chases: Limbs, one three and four offline-movement severely impaired,-**

Kyzen didn't need the report to know his wounds were severe, the hotshot lasgun, also known as the hellgun, was built to be armor piercing, and it had done exactly that.

One shot had pierced through his armored chest missing his golf ball-sized bionic heart by centimeters, it had damaged his internal power plant and ruptured a crucial coolant tube. The other shot had blown apart three of his legs, he could see parts of them scattered around him.

To Kyzen his augments where as much a part of him as his biological parts. The sight of them laying smoldering on the ground and dangling out of his chest was understandable traumatizing.

His internal components were badly damaged as well. The combination of being electrocuted and the recent impact with the ground had wreaked havoc on many of his systems.

 _They will pay for this heresy!...Omnissiah grant me strength_

Kyzen raised his head to look up at his betrayers.

"I told you those lowborn fools would find a way to fail."

The other house guard shook his head. "It wasn't them, they were just doing what they were told, that Tech-priest was far tougher than we thought." he gestured to the corpses lying around them.

He sighed, "I'm just glad we sent the pawns in first, but you know what they say...If you want a job done right, do it yourself."

They noticed Kyzen trying to prop himself up, fluorescent blue coolant leaking from his chest.

They looked at him incredulously "You're still alive! Emperors blood you're a tough nut to crack."

He held back his companion by raising an arm, "don't get too close, you've seen what he can do"

Kyzens damaged voice synthesizer crackled out one simple question. " **Why?"**

Though his mechanical voice was unable to convey emotion, it was still the voice of a wounded creature betrayed by his comrades.

The first guard flashed him a handsome smile "The Shanta Cartel has offered us a small fortune for your death, even offered to make us captains of the PDF, it's nothing personal...well maybe a little, forcing us to live like lowborn hive filth."

"You know the Ashford House despises your intervention, right? Trust me, everyone will be better off without you. This will all be over soon."

He raised his hellgun aiming at Kyzens head, from that range it would clearly kill him.

Kyzen had been using the last of his power to gather a lethal charge of electricity in the palm of his metal left hand.

 **~(Initiate Combat protocols level two)~**

As a noncombat tech-priest, this was the highest protocol he had, his proverbial ace in the hole. If this did not work he would surely die.

Prayer codes boomed from his speakers in Binharic code, inaudible to the guardsmen, but to Kyzen it drowned out all other sounds. The prayers were layered with instructions to his augments.

It was a form of wireless communication between Kyzen and the Machine Spirits, not unlike what he had witnessed earlier aboard the Omnisah's Prudence.

 **~(Although my body is weak my faith is strong.)~**

His legs twitched to life as they became temporarily empowered by the War Psalm, they propelled him airborne towards the guard with the gun raised. He saw the guardsman attempting to track Kyzen through the air, he missed by several feet.

 **~(I reject the frailty of the flesh)~**

The strenuous activity caused his already broken and ravaged body to scream out in pain, his pain-inhibitor chip had been disabled in the electrical attack allowing the pain to reach him in great rolling waves.

Being unused to any feeling beyond mild discomfort Kaizens mind went blank, seeking any and all escape from torment it was in. He internally screamed, fighting through the pain to stay conscious as his vision began fading to black.

Sensors in Kyzens nerve stem detected he was close to fainting, this triggered Skitarii grade combat stims to be injected. Internal syringes grafted into his skull plunged directly into his frontal lobe.

The stims coursed through his brains causing an intoxicating, blissful feeling. Time slowed to a fraction of normal speed as his brain went into overdrive.

He took in every detail of the alley, the gore covered wall, the hate and fear riddled faces of the guardsmen. Kyzen watched droplets of his own blood morph and ripple as they flew through the air,

 _All of this, the perfect order and harmony underlying superficial chaos and destruction, It's...beautiful._

 **~(!I accept the wisdom of the machine!)~**

He touched the man's arm and the electricity arced towards the grounded object.

The guardsman dropped the hellgun as every muscle in his body painfully contracted. Every neuron in his brain lit up at once, and his body spasmed wildly.

He collapsed to the ground twitching in his death throes. It was at that moment that Kyzen was able to understand the zeal of the electro priests in sharing the redemptive purity of the motive force unto their enemies.

 **~(!I acknowledge the failure of emotion!)~**

The second guardsman aimed his gun at Kyzen. Death stared him in the face in the form of a raised gun barrel. He would have died had his servo-skull not moved on its own volition.

It rammed itself into the man's gun causing it to fire upwards, pulverizing a chunk of rockcrete wall, rubble rained down upon them.

His war psalm was reaching its climax letting Kyzen know its energy was nearly depleted. With a Binharic command, his data spike twitched to life and darted towards the man's heart.

 **~(!LET NONE DOUBT THE PURITY OF MY FAITH, SING PRAISE TO THE GOD OF ALL MACHINES!)~**

With a satisfying thwack, the spike firmly embedded itself in his chest.

He had done it, he had walked through the darkness and escaped with his life and faith intact. Kyzen sank to the ground forbidding himself from passing out.

The Omnissiah still had plans for him...and he had an important role to play.

* * *

 _ **Let burnished ranks of steel**_

 _ **Crush the Serpent's neath their heel**_

 _-Excerpt from Agripinaa Skitarii Battle Hymn_

* * *

 **Authors notes:**

From now on the chapters should be longer, also I'll advise you check out "War Cant of Mars" on Youtube to get in the right mindset.


	5. Chapter 5

Thanks for everyone's reveiws. In the future I'm going to start responding to the longer ones/.

Some guy in an ambulance: I see you caught on that he barely won the fight, I'm trying to drive home is that as of right now, Kyzen isn't experienced or equipped for fighting. hes just a priest and a builder looking to gain power. The laspistol was more of a tiny concealed one-shot thing. Kindove like the pistols in _Django Unchained._

notYacob: I'm glad you're liking the story. The mechanicus have always interested me for that very reason. It was hard to find source material on how they think, but i got a lot of it from the _Priests of Mars_ series.

TheZadak: Great review, I always appreciate critique and honesty, keep it up! I totally understand your "con" about lack of polish, whenever I write something it is a constant process of going back and fixing old mistakes, it usually takes a few months for a story to become error free. I can see how some chapters may seem drawn out, here's my rationale for why I included them. I'm trying to write about the everyday lives of a Tech-priest, this includes a lot of world building and powerplays.

Unlike Space Marines or Imperial Guard, Tech-priests have many other duties beyond fighting, this being said I have plans for a war in the future and their will be plenty of fighting on a consecutively escalating scale. Right now I'm mostly focusing on the build-up and "setting the scene". I'm happy to hear people enjoyed the factory scene. Its honestly a lot of fun making up tech priest rituals and I've added more in future chapters.

* * *

Kyzen was slumped in a decrepit ally, blood painted the walls and seven bodies surrounded him. He fought to remain conscious.

 **Primary power supply status: offline**

 **Emergency power at 60%**

 **Automated course of action: shutdown and conserve power**

 **~(Override shutdown, divert all available power to locomotion)~**

With no small amount of effort, Kyzen was able to haul himself to his feet. He began limping his way back to his workshop on three of his original six legs.

Although his reactor had been badly damaged he still had power in the form of small cells embedded throughout his body. Unlike his reactor, however, they didn't recharge and he would need to cut into his body to replace them.

Kyzen knew that to be without power would be disastrous. The only movement he would have left would be one atrophied flesh arm and the upper stump of the other, all attached to almost three hundred pounds of dead weight prosthetics.

 _If I run out of power the chances of me getting back by myself are one in ten thousand. And that's not conting anyone else who might want me dead._

The journey back seemed one hundred times longer than the first journey. On his way to the factory his powerful chassis had been on near-autopilot, leaving him to calculate problems and formulate schemes. Now every step felt like Kyzen was climbing Olympus Mons, He moved infinitely slower constantly aware of his power levels slowly ticking down.

Gripping his Omnisian ax with both hands he used it as a walking cane. This forced him to use muscles not used in years, it brought intense physical pain for him to use them like this.

 _Now I truly see the weakness of the flesh, the Omnissiah has seen fit to remind me. I will NEVER forget this lesson._

As much as the attack had damaged his body the betrayal had damaged him in other ways. Paranoia gripped him like a steel vice. He sent Mia ahead to investigate every alleyway and street ahead of him. It wasn't enough, his head remained on a constant swivel trying to peer into every darkened window and doorway.

Kyzen thought bitterly. _If I get back alive I swear I'm going to get an eradication ray wielded on me at all times. Damn them! Goes to show you can't put your trust in anyone not of The Faith._

At last the welcome sight of his workshop came into view.

 **-Emergency power at 15%-**

 **-Condition critical-**

He limped through the main doors to see someone waiting in the entrance room with a datapad. It was Marcus, the first overseer he had met.

"Emperors blood! What happened? I mean no offence mi'lord...but you look like a walking corpse!"

Kyzen glared at him suspiciously, Marcus couldn't tell of course, due to his emotionless metal face.

"I wZZtTzZ aAAa3zcKed." His voice emulator cut in and out of static.

He was silent for a bit "...I'm sorry to hear that, to think someone would attack an official of the royal house, this far into their territory." He shook his head in disbelief. "Ah forgive me, let me help you."

Kyzen nearly swatted away his hand, the effort drained him however and he practically fell onto Marcus's shoulder. The overseer grunted from the considerable weight but held firm. Together they made their way into the workshop.

Kyzen pointed to a bench and was set down, then he motioned to a power cable. Marcus brought it and Kyzen did a quick modification to the socket. He then attached it to the inlet his reactor was normally connected to.

Central power back online

Emergency power in need of replacement.

Kyzen felt as though a great weight had been lifted off his shoulders, his mechandrites and servo arms twitched back online. He used a mechandrite to fetch several nearby tools from his self-maintenance forge.

Using a circular bore saw he removed his voice emulator from his throat. It was still attached to him with a bundle of fiber optics.

Being a relatively simple mechanism he could fix it himself. However many of his processors and neural chips were to intricate for him to repair.

I can feel gaps in my memory where data banks and multitask cogniters should be, _it feels so...empty._ _What if that data is Permanently lost? Omnissiah preserve me, to lose precious knowledge passed down to me by my master, and his master before...have I not been punished enough for my arrogance?_

He went to work disassembling the voice box and replacing the fried circuitry. He finished sanctifying the repairs and testing his new voice box at the same time.

~( **I bless these Augments, may thee find honor in serving the cause, I vow to never use them to speak blasphemy of the Machine God, the Motive Force, or the Omnissiah.)~**

Kyzen nodded to himself, pleased with his work.

 _I will need to find an Augmento-tech or a Genetor to replace my neural chips...how in the name of the Cog will I be able to both track one down AND keep up with my duties?._

Marcus had been watching the entire process with an interested expression. He piped up interrupting Kyzens thoughts.

"Er, mi'lord... is there anything I can do to help?"

"There's a miniature fusion reactor in the vault over there, bring it to me the code is 452863...and for the Omnissiahs sake be careful, it's the last one I have...good now insert it into this cavity here...no the other one...now plug it in through that socket...that should be do it." Kyzen looked at him thoughtfully.

"Marcus, are you content serving under me?"

"...Of course milord, You've shown compassion and mercy to me and my guild and I'm eternally in your debt for the knowledge you have passed on to me. Even as we sinned against the Omnissiah you guided us back to the true path. It is my honor to continue serving you."

 _I see...he sees me in a similar way i see my master, in that case-_ Marcus hesitantly continued, interrupting Kyzens thought process.

"...I must say i'm confused to why you ask this, have I displeased you in some way?"

"No...nothing like that,in truth, you've proven yourself capable many times over, I am pleased by your commitment."

The man bowed his head humbly accepting the praise. "Your too kind master Kyzen, I really can't take all the credit though, my work crews been working day and night without complaint. I could never have done it without them"

"Good leadership pushes people to acts of devotion. But that's beside the point. What matters is that you have shown loyalty to me...even when I was at my most vulnerable."

Kyzen added with a hint of resentment, "that's more than I can say about others that I once relied upon...What I'm trying to say, is that I need to leave for an undetermined amount of time... I'm choosing you as my disciple to act in my absence."

Marcus looked shocked. "M-my lord, I'm honored" He sunk to one knee he averted his eyes to the ground, a primal sign of servitude. "I..I'll try to live up to your example."

Kyzen sighed in exasperation, it manifested in a burst of steam hissing from his outtake vent. No matter how many times he had told him not to, Marcus continued to treat him like nobility.

"I'm no lord Marcus, get up...good. Now, I wouldn't have done this unless I was certain you were up for the challenge, If everything works out once we establish tech-monastery, I'll make sure you have a place as an initiate."

"Now, the repairs I still require are extensive...and they're considered forbidden knowledge to outsiders."

Marcus took the hint and left with yet another shallow bow.

* * *

Adept Nora Arthura pushed her way through the crowd, her mass was much smaller than many other Tech-priests, she was rather short and she still had her original two legs, in fact, the only mechanical limb was her right arm starting from her upper humerus down. She had removed the organic arm the very day she had finished the technological work of art.

To Nora, it felt like she was all but invisible. Someone almost knocked her down as they shoved through the crowd, he kept on walking without even a second glance. She growled in frustration.

She was living in the capital hive of Brux Prime. She had arrived on this planet slightly over three weeks ago on the second wave of martian colony ships. She was currently deep within the hive, almost half a mile away from any form of sunlight or natural air.

 _I'm really starting to regret not bringing Amicus. Then these commoners would have no choice than to move out of our way!_

Amicus was the name Nora had given to servitor Sv32a7. The servitor was her personal assistant as well as her bodyguard. He was her pride and joy, it had taken her almost two years to craft him as well as every iota of her skills as a Necromechanic.

Her order, the Ferro Medicus Scholastica (otherwise known as the Iron Surgeons in low gothic) had deemed him high enough quality to be a Praetorian Servitor. It had taken months of bickering with them on the finer points of resource distribution and personal property rights before they allowed her to keep him in her service.

As she thought back on it she irreverently fumed. _They wanted to use him to guard some dusty old martian temple, it's not like anyone actually wants to go in those unless they have to!_

An anomaly among Tech-Priests, Nora opted not to carry an Omnisahan power ax, instead she wielded a black iron staff topped with the Machina Opus.

It was a complex transmitter that allowed her to link to Amacus's mind, seeing and feeling whatever he felt. She felt no need for a personal weapon when a twelve-foot tall praetorian servitor stood between her and her enemies. Indeed, he was her weapon.

Last time she had taken him out on the streets however she had found herself surrounded by an entire squad of heavily armed Arbites. It had taken a lot of explaining to get out of that one, ironically the Arbites station was exactly where she was headed right now.

The Arbites Fortress-Precinct was one of the most heavily defended buildings on the planet. Although the building in front of her was large, it was only a small portion of the complex.

The public affairs department handled reports and scheduled appointments with government officials. It protruded from the incredibly thick angled walls that housed the rest of the outer walls of the fortess made up much of the hive block. They started from street level and vanishing all the way up into the next level of the hive

The crowds unspokenly avoided the Abrites office. People gave the entrance a wide berth, they were like a river flowing around a rock. To be caught loitering could result is arrest and questioning by the Arbites. Two judges in power armor armed with boltguns stood watch outside.

Nora detached herself from the crowd and fearlessly strode up the station steps. To onlookers, it would have been comical seeing the petite red-robed woman pushing her way through the two power armored judges. Fortunately, the guards stood aside for they recognized her as a sanctified agent of the Imperium.

Nora pushed her way through heavy oak doors into the reception room. Harsh white lights shone down. The floor and walls were made of grey chiseled stone and iron. The room was neither luxurious nor welcoming, It felt authoritative and mercilessly cold...just like the men and women it housed.

A large black marble desk was in the direct center of the room, a harsh figure was sitting at the desk listening to a report from one of his officers.

Procter Kane, senior judge of the Artemia Majoris precinct, noticed Nora enter, a look of displeasure spread across his face. He raised a gauntleted hand in front of the officer, effectively cutting her off mid-sentence. "You again...what do you want this time?" his manner of speaking was precise and to the point. It was the voice of someone who was used to deciding the fates of hundreds of men with a few spoken words.

His other hand was in a sling across his chest, he had sustained the injury in the skirmish the locals had begun calling the Battle of the Broken Barricade. Nora knew he resented being stuck in the station, she had to deal with his bad temper every time she came.

Although she had a voice synthesiser, she preferred to use her organic voice when conversing with humans. It was a radical ideal, but It added a feeling of comradery with them Nora had secretly begun to enjoy.

Nora cleared her throat and spoke. Herl voice was slightly muffled through her respirator.

"You know very well what I want Kane, I want what is owed to me through the laws of Servitude Imperituis."

The Administratum had authorized the Brux Prime Arbites headquarters two centuries ago, long before Mars had declared Artemia Majoris as a forge world.

Unlike the rest of the Brux Prime militia, the Arbites where from off-world to make sure they only had loyalties to the Imperium. They were all familiar with the ways of Tech-priests as well as the Imperium's need for servitors

"We gave you thirty convicts last week, we did our duty. If you want more your going to have to start paying for them. Feeding and housing them costs money, and that's not even taking into account the effort of catching them in the first place"

Kane crossed his arms stubbornly. The officer beside him casually placed her hand on her bolt pistol, preparing to enforce his decision.

 _Kanes just being uncooperative for the sake of it. Guess their no way around it._

"Very well...I'll pay two golden eagles per prisoner."

He shook his head "Five eagles, these men could be fighting in the penal legions, they were going to ship out next week."

"I'll give you three and I'll throw one servitor for every ten men."

Kane sat in his chair, his cold steely grey eyes locked with hers. "Alright three eagles per inmate and some servitors, Sergeant Neriah, take Mistress Arthura to prison block C"

Nora nodded her head, thankful he had finally come around. Judge Neriah typed out a complicated passcode and heavy steel doors slid open. "This way ma'am."

The Imperium's standard currency was alien to her, the Mechanicus used a completely digital form of currency in the form of Data-credits. It could be transferred between Tech-Priests with a single cant containing unreplicatable lines of code, it was all monitored in the temple of Digitum by hundreds of Arch-Logi.

It had been extremely hard for Nora to convert her Data-Credits to imperial Eagles and she had lost a good chunk of its value from exchange rates.

 _Why the Imperium still uses primitive pieces of metal is anyone's guess._

The public relations building was only a tiny part of the arbites headquarters, deeper inside the complex housed several prison complexes, an armory, mess halls, a greenhouse, warehouses, and an execution ground, it was like a tiny self-contained city built to withstand a siege for years.

They walked past the infirmary and Nora couldn't help but peak in, a good number of the sick beds were still filled with wounded pdf troopers and a few judges. She had proposed that they send their terminally wounded to her but Kane had downright refused her.

 _A Foolish sentiment. A long life of servitude is better than a short life of pain, no...that would be a waste of combat experience. These men would make excellent Skitarii candidates. Ahh, if only I had the components._

They finally reached prison block C. It was impressively large, she looked down over the guard rails, the cells stretched roughly fifty levels down to a concrete recreational area. Automated turrets where mounted in every hallway.

"I've been instructed to allow you your pick of the prisoners. We will help your subdue them and transport them."

Nora and two Judges went from cell to cell. Her red robes swished with every step and her mechadendrites gently swayed with her movements. Many of the convicts came to their bars to see what was going on.

Nora walked past the skinny or malnourished ones without a second glance. They likely would not survive the procedure and strong servitors where always the most ideal.

In one cell was a hulking brute of a man, him and his cellmate were trying to get a look through their bars. Nora paused at the cell sizing them up. Although he was missing several teeth and his hygiene left much to be desired, his anatomy was perfect for that of a laborer servitor.

"Wha chu looking ah lady? like wah, ya see!?" he grabbed his groin in an obscene gesture. The second rat-like man let out a bawdy wheezing laugh.

Nora ignored him and instead focused on his bone structure. "This one will do"

One of the judges spoke into this helmet vox, "Open cell C145" the door clanged open with a loud buzz and the convects stepped back in confusion. The judges professionally stormed the cell, taser goads at the ready.

One thrust his taser goad forcefully into the smaller man's stomach knocking him back several feet and leaving him writhing and twitching on his bed. They pinned the other man to the wall, the two of them in power armor easily overpowered the larger man. Nora entered close behind them.

"Whas this?! Lema go! It wuz juss a joke!"

Nora silently approached him. A large syringe filled with serum folded into place on the tip of her index finger.

His eyes widened in hear and he started to scream, "nonoNO NO!" With trained practice Nora inserted it into his jugular vein, The delivery system pumped enough sedatives into his neck to put an ork asleep for a week.

The two judges dragged the unconscious body out of the cell and left the cellmate cowering in a corner. From the smell, he appeared to have soiled himself.

The rest of the prison block had heard the screaming and had suddenly became a lot less curious about the new stranger, Inmates either stood as far from the entourage as possible, or pretended to be asleep. Nora, however, had not yet gotten what she had come for. Cell by cell, she reaped her harvest.

She claimed twenty-six inmates in total, she made sure to get both male and female, certain buyers had...particular tastes. As an upstart to the Brux Prime merchant world, she wasn't in the position to be choosy in clientele.

Arbites serfs loaded the sedated convicts into coffin-like iron crates, they would be loaded onto one of the transport elevators and transported to the great Bruxian financial district.

Nora counted out seventy-eight golden eagles and handed them to Kane, the Arbitrator immediately handed them off to an officer to deposit in their treasury.

She had no doubt they would all be used to further fund imperial law agencies. Unlike many other organizations within the Imperium, the Arbites where famously incorruptible, even the Administratum would be hard pressed to find a single coin unaccounted for.

Her red velvet coin pouch felt significantly lighter as Nora fixed it back within the folds of her robes

 _Damn it, this will set me back several days worth of work._

"Will that be all Mistress Arthura?"

"For now Proctor Kane, Your new servitors should arrive within the week."

Nora dismissed herself, she had work to do in the Financial District

She made her way to the shuttle station, it carried her seventeen levels down.

The financial district was the central hub of trade in Brux Prime, everything that was not shipped off world was sold here. It was located in a central area between the upper and lower hives, it would be no understatement to say that you could buy almost anything here.

At last the crowded train cleared a tunnel and the district became visible. It was entirely subterranean, stretching deep into the guts of the hive. A cacophony of smells became noticeable, ranging from exotic food to the burning smell of diesel fumes, the potent stench of human waste and unwashed bodies was mixed into the already overwhelming aroma.

The illuminators cast a dirty yellow light down on the street, The majority of the light, however, came from Brightly flashing neon signs advertised megastores, Casinos, and brothels. Multileveled walkways provided ways to get to the stores, many of which were built on top of each other.

The signs and businesses continued all the way to the ceiling thousands of feet above her. The stores in the lower tiers mostly sold basic necessities, obviously catering to the working class. The higher up the more expensive and luxurious products where sold. Wealthy merchants, nobles and cartel members frequently patronized these stores.

Her workshop was named Arthura's Augmentics and Automatons. She had bought a tiny storefront in the upper stores, it had grown rapidly in both size and popularity.

She had quickly made a name for herself with wares previously unheard of on this world. The wealthy had lined up to buy simple civilian augments at prices many times what they were worth on Mars.

Servitors had become a status symbol, she could see many of the nobles had servitors accompanying them carrying their new purchases. Others had servitors following them only to prove they could afford one.

Nora made her way up the pathways and paid the one eagle toll at the elevator. It was put in place by the merchants guild to keep commoners below.

The storefront of her workshop came into view, there was already a line of customers waiting in line to empty their purses for a chance to obtain the new, exciting product on the market.

The crowd parted as they recognized her, allowing her entry to her own shop. She eavesdropped on their muted conversations.

"That's her right, Lady Arthura?"

"Quite so, She knows me well you know. I've been meaning invite her to dine at my estate."

"That rundown place?, Don't make me laugh, it would be an insult to her honor."

"You would know quite a bit about insulting a woman's honor, a little bird told me you've taken a third mistress, it would be a great shame if your wife learned of this would it not?"

Nora recognized the voice of the man planning to invite her to his estate, he was Paras Gundarax, a distasteful little man had risen to his place in high society through blackmail and bribery.

She made a note to come up with a believable excuse for not going.

He was undoubtedly looking for a way to manipulate her into doing something for him, besides she knew exactly what he was using his servitors for, all of them being attractive females in life. She didn't particularly care about his morals, but it would reflect badly on her to be seen working with a man like him.

Further down the line a group of women were gossiping.

"They say she hides a great beauty under those robes, Rumor has it Sir Reeves of the Valdes Cartell is planning on proposing to her."

"Really? I've heard the same thing about Count Milton, They'll be at each other's throats again over this I wager."

"Your both fools for believing that, if she was so pretty why would she hide it? I'll bet you twenty eagles she's just some old hag."

Nora chuckled beneath her respirator, she found the petty scheming and jealousy of the nobles endlessly amusing. She was able to hear their conversations through the use of audio enhancing augments she had constructed herself. They had been made for the sole purpose of eavesdropping.

 _Watching the so-called ruling class trying to scheme is like watching a newborn Grox try to walk. Their minds and actions are like that of a child's._

 _The consequences for losing their political games are inconsequential things, ending in a stolen trade agreement, or a perhaps a minor skirmish._

The cold and calculating mid of a Tech-priest who had lived for a millennia was a terrifying thing. When two powerbases clashed it was a battle of the titans. Their power struggles lasted centuries, deciding the fates of words and changed the course of entire civilizations.

She had been mentored by beings who had the equivalent of supercomputers for brains, beings who could extend their lifespans almost indefinitely and had spy networks embedded in every aspect of Imperial society.

 _Even the Inquisition is unable to comprehend the ways Mars frequently manipulates the Imperium from. Hell, the Inquisition can't even decode our most basic language. And these...mentally impaired children think they can use us for their own gain?_

It far too laughable for Nora to be angry with them.

While Nora was under no delusion she had ever even been a contender on Mars, she was already considered a major political force on Brux Prime and had been playing off the noble's inexperience to greatly benefit herself.

She had played off the rivalries of the Cartels and the Nobles, pretending to support both sides and accepting generous bribes for her "loyalty".

 _I don't envy the poor soul that needs to sort that throneing mess out, getting them to work together would be like teaching an Orc pacifism_

While many other Tech-Priests would have found the overly-emotional humans be extremely irritating. Nora was the rare exception. Being a Necromechanic, the study of sentient creatures was one of her truest passions.

In truth the planet was a great ecosystem, a perfect opportunity to better understand the human mind. In this way, she had developed a perverse affinity to her customers, like a scientist who thought of lab rats as her pets.

Through the combination of bribes and her own shop's income, she had acquired a small fortune in three short weeks. She had already bought the shops adjacent to her and had begun expanding her operations. She had plans of installing growth vats from off-world so she could stop begging convicts of the Arbites.

The front doors of her shop where arched temple doors, inlaid within the heavy oak doors was a newly crafted Opus Machina. Cleverly concealed inside the Mechanicus icon where sensors that picked up her unique noospheric aura, the doors automatically slid open welcoming their mistress home.

Inside the shop was a spacious area lit by a combination of dim yellow electrical lights and candlelight. The smell of incense and oil drifted through the shop like a heavy blanket. To her customers, it felt like a bizarre combination of a church and an auction house. To Nora, it was a fond reminder of her old workshop back on Mars.

Carved wooden racks proudly displayed the augments hand-crafted by Nora. There was a raised platform in a corner where servitors would be marched in front of people for them to examine. A young woman wearing a frilly hoop skirt and a flowered hat squealed in excitement as a servitor bowed before her.

The business end of the shop was maintained by four red-robed menials she had hired. The head menial greeted her with a bow. Her name was Loreal Reeves, She was completely organic bar a patch of metal on the right side of her shaved head.

As a reward for her service, Nora had bestowed upon her an accelerated data processor augment.

The Microcognition unit allowed her to keep up with all of the accounting and record keeping. But her brain modifications only assisted her with the job, she was bursting with natural talent. Even before she received the augments she had done the equivalent of nearly an entire team of administratum officials on her own.

"Lady Arthura, welcome home"

"Thank you Loriel, Status report?"

"Another five of the Servitor L3t479 laborer models where purchased by the Bruxian mining guild today, a sum of sixty-five golden eagles have been transferred to our vault."

 _Grax shit, those where our last laborer servitors, I will need to craft more before the industry businesses get uppity._

"In addition, the Desert Snakes mercenary outfit wish to purchase more of our combat servitors, They wish to express their satisfaction with the trial model we provided for them, they would like to meet with you in person to discuss future business dealings with us. Should I set up an appointment?"

 _Excellent, If I ever need to apply some force they will make useful allies_

"Yes please do, excellent work Loreil, I think you're overdue for a pay raise, at it to my todo list. If anything else comes up I will be in my workshop."

Loreal bowed her hooded head once again, "As the Omnissiah wills it, my lady"

Nora moved deeper into the shop, she passed a display rack of servo skulls and heat vision implants.

The Menials where a great help to Nora, she would have little time for anything else if she had been forced to maintain the shop on her own. When she had casually questioned them on their knowledge of Mechanicus rituals they told her of a Tech-priest named Adept Castillan.

In truth it was due to him she had found the Bruxian Mechanics Guild so willing to help her. He had gifted, what seemed to them, a treasure trove of valuable information.

When they found out Nora was from the same organization they had jumped at the opportunity to assist her in the hope she would depart more of Mechanicus knowledge upon them.

 _From what they tell me he has been extremely active in the Lower industrial levels. I should be wary, he sounds both competent and ambitious._

She had been on guard ever since arriving planetside, she had gotten lucky in that the financial district had not been claimed yet. She had set up data markers throughout it marking it as her territory. If any of her associates tried to intrude she would protect her claim with deadly force if necessary.

 _I'm not yet ready to make my play for the planet. I will continue gathering influence and power for now. But sometime soon, this Adept Castellan may need to be eliminated._

In the hallway guarding the workshop was Amicus himself. Upon sight of his creator, he let out a friendly rumble accompanied by a burst of steam.

The servitor was humanoid and when at his full height stood twelve feet tall, his legs were able to telescopically fold to a more manageable eight feet tall to allow him access to the shop.

Unlike most of her fellow tech priests Nora could appreciate aesthetics, it was the reason she had chosen to become a Genetor. She was able to find beauty in many things, but to a Genetor there was nothing more beautiful than a dissected specimen laying on a operation table, its secrets revealed for all to see.

Generators had the foresight and vision to gain inspiration from natures designs. When combining them with the designs of machines you could improve both.

She had hired a famous artist from Terra to help her craft the armor and design the casings for his weaponry. He was plated from head to toe in golden armor engraved with binharic litanies. The flowing angelic geometry made him look like some ancient deity risen to protect mankind.

His helm was in a Roman style with a bladed crest extending from it. In place of an opening was an emotionless golden mask of a bearded man with noble and stern features.

 _I wanted to craft something that was deadly but graceful, Destructive but Serine, His very existence is a testament to the profound beauty of biology fused with technology...my magnum opus._

Lascannons crafted to look like imperial eagles where folded neatly behind his back. Both of his hands were intact to allow him to aid her as an assistant. His right arm housed a giant sword that retracted inconspicuously into a fold in his gauntlet. His right arm could be expanded into a giant stormshield that emitted a power-field capable of deflecting tank shells.

He had been crafted from a vat-grown clone, Nora had taken great care not to alter his personality or intelligence in his creation. Though bearing genetic material taken from ogryns and other giant beasts his intelligence was naturally somewhere between a human's and dogs.

She activated her staff, allowing her an insight into what he was thinking, Amicus felt genuine joy at seeing his creator, he had been anxiously awaiting her arrival, worried that he would be unable to protect her.

Nora extended a hand and gave her friend a friendly pat on the head. **+(Aww, you missed me didn't you, don't worry boy, I'm here and not going anywhere. Next time I go out I promise I'll let you come along.)+**

Amicus let out another rumble as he nuzzled his massive head against her hand, not unlike a happy puppy.

Their unusual relationship was not like that of a servitor and its master, she did not enslave him to her will. He simply chose to serve and obey her. This was likely a result of the unshakable loyalty ogryns where known to posses.

True he had loyalty modifiers installed, similar to the ones Skitarii possessed, but he had the ability to disobey Nora if he chose to. They had been through much together and their bond a strange one amongst the Mechanicus, it was one of friendship.

Nora and Amicus entered her workshop together.

A civilian would have been horrified at the sight of her workshop, being ignorant of the grim reality surrounding the creation of a servitor.

The round room was lit by candlelight, channels lead to a central drain for the disposal of blood and other body fluids. Purity seals covered the equipment and incense burners hung from the ceilings.

Surgical instruments lined the walls, circular bone saws, skull boring drills, laser cutters, and stitching devices. In the middle of the circular chamber was a surgical table where her latest project was bound.

The man had been shaved, lobotomized, and stabilized, the parts of his brain allowing free will and creative thought were already removed and set in jars to be repurposed. a feeding tube had been grafted down his throat and his libs had been amputated in preparation for prosthetics. An IV pumped a dark brown paralysis reagent into his bloodstream

The whites of its eyes where visible as they rolled around in their sockets. It was a reflex of animalistic terror. Although all the parts of his brain that made him human had already been removed, the primal survival instincts correctly identified the pair of them as a threat..

Nora cheerfully hummed one of her favorite devotional hymns as she selected a scalpel. She began removing the bandages covering the cavity she had created within the man's head. She lit a new batch of incense and set to work.

 _The induction electrode should be attached to the thalamus like...so_

 _Now, where did I put my forceps..ah...there you are._

 _This next step is delicate, damage of the cerebellum will result in brain death, carefully...excellent_

She connected the low-tech cogitator through the servitor's neural pathways, it would now be bound to it for the rest of its artificial life. It regulated everything about him from its primary function, to him very breathing.

The rest of the operation took less than an hour, muscle grafts, castration, the suturing of steel to flesh. Her augmented right arm was a flurry of activity as instruments folded down over her fingers and automatically did the work for her. Amicus would assist her by fetching materials for her or holding the specimen down during the more painful parts of the operation.

Content with the work she had done she unbound the leather strap holding the insert servitor and recited the Litany of Activation.

 **+(The soul of the Machine God surrounds thee.)+**

 **+( The power of the Machine God invests thee.)+**

 **+(The hate of the Machine God drives thee. )+**

 **+(The Machine God endows thee with life.)+**

 **+(!Live!)+**

In response to the binharic commands, the cognitator hummed to life, feeding off the servitors life force.

The fear faded from the man's eyes, replaced by the innocent obedience of a servitor. The first few moments of a servitors life where always the most beautiful in Nora's eyes. In a way they were like her children, innocent and wide-eyed, It would stay motionless on the surgical table forever unless it was given an order.

 _A new disciple of the machine god is been born, no matter how humble. What was once a repulsive reject of imperial society is now an icon of the machine god, a combination of holy machine and flesh._

She added the final touch and affixed a purity seal bearing her personal crest to the cogitator protruding from the servitor's skull.

 **+(go forth my child, join the others. Have no fear for you are safely under the protection of the Omnissiah, your pain and fear are over now...forever)+**

She gave a servitor a tender nudge as it lurched to its feet and took the first step towards its new life. It exited the room as she moved to other duties.

Nora accessed an overview of her resource stores that Loriel had prepared for her. She had plenty of raw steel, rubber, and petroleum products.

To her dismay however she was running low on circuitry and precious metals that could be crafted into fiber optics, most importantly she had completely run out of industrial grade coolant that kept components from overheating ultimately resulting in the malfunction of a servitor.

 _How could I have been so careless? in my drive to acquire the human component I've completely overlooked the Cogging mechanical side of things!_

 _I will need to lead an expedition to the rusts wastes to gather more materials. Otherwise, production will grind to a halt._

 **+(Amicus, you up for an adventure?)+**

* * *

 _ **Everything organic we know is simply machinery, in one form or another.**_

 _ **Tendons replace pistons; flesh in the place of steel; blood is simply biological coolant.**_

 _ **To deny this and shun it is common Mechanicus orthodoxy,**_

 _ **it is also idiocy.**_

 _-The frustrations of Arch Genetor Morovia Daedalus_


End file.
